PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship

The Faculty of Education is offering the Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship for Indigenous students wanting to study a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). This scholarship honours the enduring and widespread legacy of the late Associate Professor Brown/Irruluma Guralwin Enumbura in Indigenous education.

Associate Professor Isaac Brown was an Aboriginal man and the inaugural director of the Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines (MOSA). He was an inspirational figure and made important contributions to the advancement of Indigenous Australians in education.

He worked as a speech pathologist in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory for 30 years. In Victoria, he became State Coordinator for the Health Commission and oversaw speech pathology programs across the state. In 2008, he was awarded a Life Membership of speech pathology.

In 1984, Associate Professor Brown/Irruluma Guralwin Enumbura became the inaugural director of MOSA, which ran for more than 15 years. It was set up to ensure Aboriginal students were academically ready for university and flourished under his leadership.

It was regarded as a program of national significance, and he is remembered as an utterly brilliant director. Uncle Isaac also oversaw the creation of the Aboriginal Research Centre.

After his time at Monash, Uncle Isaac moved back to the Northern Territory where he held a number of significant positions at Charles Darwin University, including Director of the Centre for Aboriginal and Islander Studies, Dean of the Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and Adjunct Professor with the School of Indigenous Knowledge Systems.

His legacy is enduring and widespread. Many Indigenous people who hold academic, government and high-level business positions trace their success back to MOSA. Generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are grateful for his energy and dedication.