Alumna gives home science fund $20,000

Dawn Ibbotson, of Dunedin, was at Studholme Hall on Saturday for the University of Otago School of Home Science centenary. Photos by Gerard O'Brien.

The oldest alumna at the centenary, Dawn Ibbotson (96), who studied between 1933 and 1936, gave $20,000 to the fund.

"It will be a research seeding fund for our alumni and open to postgraduate students studying in the home science disciplines," consumer and applied sciences programme director Dr Cheryl Wilson said yesterday.

Home Science reunion attendees (left to right) Jillian Luke (nee Smith), of Havelock North, Heather Currie (nee Jefferis), of Melbourne, and Jillian Borrie (nee Ingram), of Tauranga, reminisce about their Studholme Hall days, during an afternoon tea on Saturday marking the tie with the hostel, where most home science students lived.

Recalling her time at the university, Mrs Ibbotson (nee Smith) said the "comprehensive" qualification she obtained provided a sound base for her life of voluntary civic works, chiefly at Dunedin's educational institutions.

She was also a life member of the National Council of Women.

Mrs Ibbotson briefly taught at the home science school, and recalled with bemusement an anonymous letter she received which criticised her for taking a job that could be a single woman's.