Barry Oliver and Stephen Currow

Scholarship given boost by this man

Friday, September 25, 2020
Academics acknowledge encyclopedia editor for increasing research profile

Articles written by Avondale academics for the new Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists will significantly increase the university college’s institutional research profile this year.

The publication record addition is largely thanks to regional editor and conjoint associate professor Dr Barry Oliver, who ensured the peer-reviewed articles qualified for reporting as part of Avondale’s Higher Education Research Data Collection.

While the South Pacific is only one of 13 divisions of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, Oliver and his writers contributed about 30 per cent of the encyclopedia’s articles. Of these 629 articles, about 70 per cent are from Avondale academics and alumni. “Now just in case you think these articles are just a few sentences, a couple of paragraphs, no way,” says Oliver in a video produced for an Adventist Heritage Here for Good Colloquium. “The article on Avondale College, for example, is 25,000 words.”

Others by academics on staff cover issues such as the Adventist Church and military service in the South Pacific (Daniel Reynaud), Australian indigenous missionaries (Brad Watson) and the theological stream called Brinsmeadism (Kayle de Waal) or profile notable Adventists such as historian Dr Arthur Patrick (Lynden Rogers) and hospital administrator Dr Elwin Currow (Stephen Currow). Church institutions such as Betikama Adventist College (Lynnette Lounsbury) and Sydney Adventist Hospital (Paul Race) are covered, too.

The contribution of the 27 Avondale academics and alumni “highlights their commitment to sharing knowledge that enriches and expands an understanding of key people and institutions shaping the vital work and mission of the church,” says Associate Dean (Research) Associate Professor Carolyn Rickett. 

She chairs the Research Committee, which invited Oliver to its most recent meeting so members could offer thanks. In a presentation during the meeting, Vice-President (Academic) Professor Stephen Currow acknowledged Oliver’s “longstanding connection and commitment to Avondale” as a graduate (1973, 1985), lecturer (1990-1997) and council chair (2008-2015). “The opportunities you have given to contribute to the encyclopedia are just further evidence of this commitment.”

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Brenton Stacey
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Brenton Stacey

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Brenton is Avondale University’s Public Relations and Philanthropy Officer. He brings to the role experience as a communicator in publishing, media relations, public relations, radio and television, mostly within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific and its entities.