Nan Giese

Nancy Giese AO OBE (née Wilson; 31 January 1922 – 8 May 2012) was an Australian educator and academic administrator, who pioneered tertiary education in the Northern Territory, leading the Darwin Community College which eventually became Charles Darwin University.

Born Nancy Wilson in Queensland, Australia, she was educated at Brisbane Girls Grammar School and the University of Queensland where she qualified as a teacher.[1] In 1946, she married public servant Harry C. Giese, and in 1954 they moved to Darwin in the Northern Territory, where he took up a senior role as Director of Welfare and served on the Northern Territory Legislative Council. Seeing the lack of post-secondary educational options for Territorians, Giese set about establishing the Darwin Community College, and serving as commissioner of the NT Vocational Training Commission. The college became the Darwin Institute of Technology in the 1980s, and Giese served as chair of its council from 1976 to 1985, and became deputy chancellor when the institution achieved university status as University College of the Northern Territory. In 1993, she was elected chancellor of what was now Northern Territory University, serving in the role for ten years until 2003, when the university became Charles Darwin University.[2][3]

Giese was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971,[4] an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1977,[5] and an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1997.[6]