Murdoch alumnus and award-winning author Kim Scott has been named the inaugural West Australian of the Year.
Professor Scott, who graduated from Murdoch with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979, beat 24 others to take out the top prize.
Celebrate WA chairman’s John Poynton told The West Australian Professor Scott was a deserving winner of the inaugural award.
“Professor Scott’s exceptional contribution to Western Australia through his work as an author and his involvement in language recovery projects has had a significant impact on the State,” Mr Poynton said.
Professor Scott is no stranger to accolades – last year he won the coveted Miles Franklin Literary Award for the second time for his novel That Deadman Dance. In 2000 he was the first Indigenous author to win the prize for his novel Benang, an honour he shared with writer Thea Astley.
He has also been shortlisted for Murdoch University’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards.
