29 Facts About Marie Bashir

In 1993 Marie Bashir was appointed the Clinical Director of Mental Health Services for the Central Sydney Area Health Service, a position she held until appointed governor on 1 March 2001.

Marie Bashir has served as the Chancellor of the University of Sydney.

Marie Bashir retired on 1 October 2014 and was succeeded as governor by General David Hurley.

Marie Roslyn Bashir was born in 1930 in Narrandera, New South Wales, to Lebanese Christian parents Michael Bashir and Victoria Melick.

Marie Bashir attended Narrandera Public School and in 1943 enrolled at Sydney Girls High School, which her mother had attended.

Marie Bashir then moved to Sydney to live with her grandmother in order to attend.

Marie Bashir completed the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1956 at the University of Sydney Medical School, residing at The Women's College from 1950 to 1955.

Marie Bashir took up life membership of the College Union in 1969.

However, wanting to assist people suffering from mental illnesses, Marie Bashir eventually decided to take up postgraduate studies in Psychiatry.

When Shehadie was made Lord Mayor of Sydney, Marie Bashir became the Lady Mayoress of Sydney from 1973 to 1975.

In 1974 Marie Bashir was named as "Mother of the Year" by the NSW Child Care Committee and the National Council of Women, with Marie Bashir noting "the fact that I, as a professional woman, was chosen as Mother of the Year points to the growing social acceptance of a working mother".

From 1972, Marie Bashir was a teacher, lecturer and mentor to medical students at The University of Sydney.

In 1972 Marie Bashir was appointed Director of the Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Service, which provides consultative services for young people with emotional and psychiatric issues, and oversaw the unit's moving to the former Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital in Concord West in 1977 following its acquisition by the NSW Health Commission in 1976.

From 1996, Marie Bashir took up the consultative role of senior psychiatrist to the Aboriginal Medical Service.

On 1 January 2001, Marie Bashir was awarded the Centenary Medal.

Marie Bashir was sworn in on 1 March 2001, and on 30 March she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia.

For Indigenous Australians, Marie Bashir launched a health initiative to support Indigenous medicine and nursing students as well as supporting the progress of reconciliation.

In 2002, Marie Bashir became Patron of the Australia-Vietnam Medical Trust and became intimately involved in collaborative health programs in Vietnam, particularly in rural areas.

Marie Bashir is a Patron of Opera Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Pinchgut Opera and the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.

In 2003 Marie Bashir received the Mental Health Princess Award, awarded by Princess Galyani Vadhana of Thailand, for contribution to collaborative mental health programs between Australia and Thailand, and in 2004 she was recognised as an Australian Living Treasure.

In March 2004, during a visit to Lebanon, Marie Bashir was appointed a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Cedar by General Emile Lahoud, President of the Republic of Lebanon.

Marie Bashir was involved in the high-profile legal case against a psychiatrist called Dr Brendan O' Sullivan and the NSW health service, in which she was falsely cited in his dismissal; using the opportunity to claim sovereign immunity, usually only used by the Crown.

Marie Bashir held the position of Administrator many times: from 10 to 17 July 2007,30 September to 12 October 2007, and 20 April to 4 May 2008 in the absence of Michael Jeffery, and from 30 July to 6 August 2008,5 to 19 November 2008,17 March to 2 April 2009, and 7 to 12 June 2010, in the absence of Quentin Bryce.

Marie Bashir officially opened the "Marie Bashir Mosman Sports Centre" on 10 December 2010 with the Mayor, Anne Connon.

On 19 April 2012, Marie Bashir was presented with the insignia of a Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Cedar by the President of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman, at Government House, Sydney, during his state visit to Australia.

At a meeting of the University of Sydney Senate in May 2012, Marie Bashir announced her intention to retire as Chancellor.

On 26 May 2013, Marie Bashir was promoted to the rank of Officer within the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by the then President of France, Francois Hollande, and invested with the insignia at a ceremony at Government House Sydney by General Regis Outtier, Secretary General of the Society of the Legion d'Honneur.

Also in December 2013, Marie Bashir became patron of the NAISDA Foundation.

Marie Bashir made clear at the time of her retirement her interest in continuing her community work, particularly through the area of post-traumatic stress disorder in Australian Defence Force veterans.