The law professor who changed lives and inspired a $195,000 gift
Tom Yim says he would never have got through University without the help of Emeritus Professor Colin Phegan. Now he is honouring his former lecturer by making a gift that will help a new generation of law students.
The lectureship is named in honour of former Law School dean, Emeritus Professor Colin Phegan.
In honour of the professor who helped him through law school, philanthropist Tom Yim has donated $195,000 to support law students.
It is Yim鈥檚 second major gift to support the Colin Phegan lectureship, a teaching position at the that the Yim family helped establish with an initial $180,000 gift in 2013. The lectureship is named for former Law School dean, Emeritus Professor Colin Phegan.
When Yim first arrived at the University in 1969, he struggled. He had grown up in Hong Kong and English wasn鈥檛 his first language. 鈥淚 had to use a dictionary for every paragraph I read,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was a challenge and I wasn鈥檛 a good student.鈥�
Phegan noticed Yim was having trouble, pulled him aside and talked him through some of the complexities of case law. 鈥淚t was just a 20-minute talk, but without it, I would never have made it through,鈥� says Yim.
When Yim told current dean and head of school, that he wanted to make a gift in Phegan鈥檚 honour, she suggested he help establish a new teaching position.
In 2014, was appointed as the inaugural Colin Phegan lecturer. His first task was to create a course that would help first-year students in the graduate-degree program gain the skills and confidence needed to study law.
Dyer鈥檚 Legal Reasoning course aims to help students read cases and other legal material, and answer questions with the precision required in law exams. 鈥淎 lot of people who come into law have a hard time because they just haven鈥檛 read this sort of material before and they鈥檙e not sure how to interpret it,鈥� Dyer says.
I鈥檓 so grateful that I had an education and I鈥檓 so grateful that I have an opportunity to give back.
Colin Phegan Lecturer Andrew Dyer with philanthropist Tom Yim.
Dyer came to law after a stint working in television, acting in and writing sketch comedy for Channel Seven. When he won the lectureship, he was familiar with Phegan鈥檚 name because both his mother and his uncle had studied at the University during Phegan鈥檚 time as a lecturer.
鈥淭hey both said he was one of the lecturers who really stood out as an excellent teacher,鈥� Dyer says. 鈥淪o it was a real honour to take up the position in his name.鈥�
Yim鈥檚 latest gift will ensure Dyer can continue his work. The new course has been a hit with students. Dyer is particularly pleased about the feedback from international students of non-English-speaking backgrounds.
鈥淢any of them have said the tutorials have been particularly helpful because they鈥檙e coming from totally different societies where there is a different legal culture,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e told me it鈥檚 really helped them understand what鈥檚 required at law school in Australia.鈥�
As for Yim, after graduating, he practised law then moved into business and investment. 鈥淗aving some background in law is extremely useful in business,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful that I had an education and I鈥檓 so grateful that I have an opportunity to give back.鈥�
He is thrilled with the progress Dyer has made at the Law School. 鈥淗e鈥檚 giving students the opportunity to talk through issues of case law and helping them get through the mist, so to speak.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly how Colin Phegan helped me in that 20 minutes all those years ago.鈥�
