Eminent Queensland District Court Judge Ian Dearden has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).
Judge Dearden, currently Queensland’s third longest-serving judge, was one of nine prominent Australians recognised by USQ on Friday with honorary awards for exceptional service to the community and the university.
Judge Dearden, Dr Bob McGregor, Brent Finlay, Professor Grant Daggard, Professor Roger Stone, Professor Jane Summers, Phia Damsa, Mike Hayes and Merrilyn Strohfeldt were all honoured by USQ.
In a career spanning almost 40 years, Judge Dearden was first admitted a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1984 and briefly admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Nauru in 1995.
He was appointed a judge of Queensland District Court on 28 February 2005 and of the Childrens Court on 17 November 2005.
Despite graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland (1977) and Master of Legal Practice from Queensland University of Technology (1996), Judge Dearden has had a 15-year affiliation with USQ.
He was a member of the then-named University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) Law School Advisory Committee from 2007, and chair from 2010-2013.
Judge Dearden has been a member of its replacement body (USQ School of Law and Justice Board of Study) since 2014 and is the current chair. He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law at USQ since 2011.
See USQ photos of the event.
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