Catherine Ordway graduated as a PhD scholar at the University of Canberra’s Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, 9 October. For her and her family it was one of those memorable days. I was delighted that she accompanied Finn, Paul and Robin in the procession (link).
I met Catherine sometime before the start of her thesis. She joined me on the Board of Australian Canoeing and provided invaluable independent advice to us. I was very impressed by her. I discovered she was from Canberra and by serendipity learned of her extensive work in equity and integrity in sport. At that time, I was keen for her to pursue a PhD if she could as I thought she had a very important voice to share.
Catherine did pursue a PhD by publication and is now on the staff at the University of Canberra where she is Course Convenor and Assistant Professor (Sports Management). She lectures in Sports and the Law and Performance Integrity and Athlete Management (link).
Her thesis title is Protecting Sports Integrity: Sport corruption strategies. Her abstract that summarises her papers is:
Doping, match-fixing and corruption are challenges to the integrity of sport. Rather than imagining that there is a single “magic wand” solution, drawing on lessons from other industries and contexts, the culture of corruption rife in both Olympic and professional sports can instead be tackled through a range of tools. Inspired by the idea of “moral repair”, and the Ethics of Care approach, a number of risk reduction strategies, including: engaging in collaborative partnerships with law enforcement, strengthening legislative and regulatory frameworks, prioritising athlete welfare and supporting good governance, including promoting gender equality and ethical leadership, have been outlined.
Catherine’s family joined her to celebrate the day. In doing so, it became one of those forever days.
Postscript
The University of Canberra’s Uncover has published an article about Catherine to celebrate her doctorate (link).
