Prize to remember Fran Wright launched
Former Faculty member Caroline Morris (now at Queen Mary University, London) and Associate Professor Elisabeth McDonald have established and contributed to a prize to honour Fran Wright.
Former Faculty member Caroline Morris (now at Queen Mary University, London) and Associate Professor Elisabeth McDonald have established and contributed to a prize to honour Fran Wright. A valued former member of the Victoria University Faculty of Law, Fran Wright passed away after a short illness in New South Wales, Australia on 14 April, 2014.
The Fran Wright Memorial Prize in Criminal Law will be officially launched at an early evening event at the Faculty of Law on 20 April, 2016, when Caroline is in Wellington.
The prize will be awarded to the inaugural recipient – the selection criteria being that it is a LAWS 214 student, who, in the opinion of the teachers of that course, best continues the legacy of the late Fran Wright by approaching the study of criminal law with diligence, thoughtfulness and an excellent understanding of the social and policy implications of New Zealand criminal law.
“Rather than awarding a prize for the top student in criminal law, it was agreed that a more fitting tribute to Fran would be to recognise a student who demonstrated the values Fran held so dearly,” Elisabeth McDonald says.
Fran was born in England but lived in many places and made hundreds of friends. She emigrated from the United Kingdom to New Zealand with her husband Paul. During her time in New Zealand she worked at the Faculty of Law, where she also completed her LLM. She is remembered fondly for her enthusiasm for teaching law, for research, and for life. Fran demonstrated that using law to make an argument is an incredibly creative process, and that it is the most innovative use of law which drives research forward.
“Fran was a generous and kind person. She had an open heart and an open door to colleagues – no problem was too small to bother her with and she was always bubbling with ideas about law, life and cooking,” Caroline Morris says.
Contributions to establish an endowment fund for this prize would be very welcome. Please contact Anna Burtt in the first instance. Anna.Burtt@vuw.ac.nz