Foreign stardom for USQ alumni
SUCCESS on an international stage is what helped USQ Toowoomba alumni Heidi Dugan secure one of the top honours at this year’s Australian China Alumni Awards in Beijing.
Since her graduation in 1994, Ms Dugan has gone on to host one of the most popular food programs in China, You are the Chef.
More than 200 guests attended the awards presentation dinner last week, including alumni, senior Australian government officials and university representatives, and representatives from the Australia-China corporate community.
Ms Dugan has had an unconventional road to stardom.
She originally wanted to be an actress, having studied a degree in arts majoring in drama while at the USQ campus.
But when an opportunity arose to study international trade in Wuhan in 1996, she decided to take it.
From there she took up a job in Shanghai, acting as an English mentor to Chinese reporters covering international news and was swiftly moved to host the cooking show when station producers realised her appeal.
She now extensive experience in the TV and media industry - becoming one of the first foreign TV hosts on Chinese television, an emcee, TV presenter and judge.
Ms Dugan was honoured by USQ earlier this year as its 2018 International Alumnus of the Year.
“You get a lot of universities where they don’t know your name, they don’t know who you are,” Ms Dugan said as she received her award.
“All of our teachers knew who we were, they knew our names, and they knew us inside out. And I think that is an incredibly unique thing for a university to be able to offer.”