After leaving school I didn't go on to university ... it wasn't until 2002 that I thought okay, I'll go back to it! Why not? Dr Lis Kirkby, Sydney PhD graduate

Acting Dean of The Business School, Professor David Grant, congratulated Dr Kirkby on her accomplishment:

"Her graduation marks another special achievement in her life. She is an inspiration to us all in the Business School, and we are proud to have had her carry out her doctoral studies with us."

Unlike many of her fellow students, Dr Kirkby has the advantage of being able to draw on a lifetime of experiences. She saw first-hand the effects of the Great Depression while growing up in England, and served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in World War II. She lived in Malaysia during the Malayan Emergency and stayed on in her role as a radio producer following independence. After working for ABC Radio in Sydney, Dr Kirkby became a television celebrity, starring as Lucy Sutcliffe in the hit series Number 96.

However, it was Dr Kirkby's work in politics that really supported her postgraduate studies. As a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales and state leader of the Australian Democrat party from 1981 to 1998, Dr Kirkby campaigned tirelessly to decriminalise homosexuality, improve workers' rights, improve conditions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and establish equal rights and opportunities for women. Prior to entering Parliament, she had opposed the Vietnam War, and was a member of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL). Her research became increasingly linked to these endeavours for social justice.

"I am more and more involved in this thesis as a matter of putting forward what I believe are principles of social justice, and it is not some airy fairy idea of total equality. There's no such thing as total equality, but a progressive society has to be fair, and it is not fair when a financial firm in New York can make a profit that is greater than the gross domestic product of a small country," she says.

Even after all she faced as a political leader, media personality and social rights campaigner, Dr Kirkby found commencing university as daunting as any other new student.

"After leaving school I didn't go on to university, which was what had been expected, and it wasn't until 2002 that I thought okay, I'll go back to it! Why not?"

"Of course I had to do public exams at the end of every year and go and sit in a room and write. The first time it was terrifying because I hadn't done it for 70 years!"

While Dr Kirkby is aware that her age has set her apart from her fellow PhD candidates, she doesn't see it as a disadvantage. In fact, she believes the collective youth and inexperience of major finance corporations was a significant factor in the emergence of the GFC.

"When Goldman Sachs was in trouble in 2007-2008 there was no corporate memory. There was nobody who had any real knowledge of what had happened to Goldman Sachs prior to 1980," she says.

"I believe that people should be judged in old age on their capacity, not on their chronological age. I think it is terribly wrong that as soon as a person reaches a certain age they are automatically written off as too old. It really is infuriating that people assume you can't do something because of your age."