Once you stop learning you start dying.
Margret Schuller, 71, often quotes those words from Albert Einstein when asked why she decided to start a PhD in her 60s.
The Engadine resident was the eldest graduate at the University of Wollongong graduation ceremonies last week, where she celebrated finishing her PhD.
“I hope I will never stop learning,” Dr Schuller said. “It does not have to be something formal but for me to stay physically and mentally active is very important.
“I have heard people say when we stop learning we start dying and I think that is a very good quote.”
Dr Schuller, who runs her own marketing and branding business, said she was rapt to complete her PhD after seven and a half years of research. Her project was titled Knowledge transfer from globally dispersed subsidiaries to the parent company: A study of stickiness in a multinational organisation.
“When you finish all you get is an email saying congratulations. So this graduation ceremony is nice because it makes you feel like you have finished.”
She began her PhD project after an old lecturer at the University of Wollongong encouraged her to push on and complete the higher qualification. She previously completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the university in 2002.
“He kept at me that I should keep going and do a PhD and I said ‘no way’.
“Every so often he would ring me and keep at me and he said I should apply and see what happens. Eventually I did and I was accepted.”
Dr Schuller was raised in Germany but visited Australia in 1968 for, what she believed would be, one year. She ended up staying in the country where she enjoyed a good career in science and research and started a family.
Dr Schuller said her PhD project looked into knowledge transfer between organisations. “Despite extensive research, achieving effective knowledge transfer remains a major challenge for many organisations. Tacit knowledge is particularly complex and often becomes ‘sticky’ and thus slow and difficult to transfer.”
More than 700 students took part in the University of Wollongong graduation ceremonies last week.
