Marie Bashir
Marie Roslyn Bashir, AC, CVO (born 1930) is the current Governor of New South Wales. She was born in Narrandera in the Riverina district of New South Wales, and attended Narrandera Public School and Sydney Girls High School. She completed the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1956 at the University of Sydney.
Bashir later taught at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales, and increased her work with children's services, psychiatry and mental health services, and indigenous health programs. When she became Governor of New South Wales, she was Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney (which she became in 1993); Area Director of Mental Health Services Central Sydney (from 1994); and Senior Consultant to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern (from 1996) and to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Kempsey.
Her interests included:
- juvenile justice
- research on adolescent depression
- health issues in developing countries
- education for health professionals
- telemedicine and new technologies for health service delivery
In 1971 Bashir was awarded Mother of the Year.
In 1988 Bashir was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her work with young Australians in the area of mental health.
In 2001 Bashir was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Later that year she was appointed Governor of New South Wales on the recommendation of the Premier, Bob Carr. Bashir is the first female Governor of New South Wales and the first governor of any Australian state of Lebanese descent. In 2006 the Queen appointed Professor Bashir a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, (CVO).
Bashir is married to former Lord Mayor of Sydney (also former Wallaby Captain), Sir Nicholas Shehadie, AC, OBE. She is thus formally Lady Shehadie. She is sometimes referred to as Professor Marie Bashir, Lady Shehadie, but she does not use this title herself. The Shehadies have three children and six grand-children.
See also: Governors of New South Wales
Governors of the Australian states
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Gordon Samuels | Governor of New South Wales 2001– | Succeeded by: (current incumbent) |
- The Women's College - Marie Bashir
- The Whitlam Institute - Marie Bashir
- Lawlink NSW: Her Excellency Marie Bashir AC, Governor of New South Wales
- Parliament of NSW - Governor Marie Bashir
Categories
Governors of New South Wales | Companions of the Order of Australia | Living people | Australian psychiatrists | 1930 births | Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order | Lebanese Australians