Industry icon acknowledged with honorary doctorate

At a graduation ceremony on Tuesday September 17th, The University of Adelaide awarded the degree Doctor of the University (honoris causa) to winemaker Louisa Rose, head of sustainability and brand ambassador at Hill Smith Family Estates. The honorary doctorate acknowledges Rose’s leading contributions to the wine industry and the University of Adelaide’s Alumni Council.

Upon receiving the doctorate, Rose thanked the university for the honour.

L-R: The Hon. Catherine Branson AC SC, Chancellor at the University of Adelaide, Louisa Rose and Professor Peter Høj AC, Vice-Chancellor and President at University of Adelaide. Image courtesy Hill-Smith Family Estates

“I am humbled to be considered in the same light as others who have received this honour before me and I will endeavour to continue to make the university proud,” said Rose.

Rose also delivered the graduation address to students at the ceremony, where she offered words of encouragement to the graduates, highlighting the important role they will play in shaping the future.

“Remember that learning is very powerful,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of failure.”

“It is not what you don’t know. It is how you learn what you don’t know that will be the key to your success.”

Rose grew up in Melbourne and spent her weekends on the family vineyard in the Yarra Valley. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in physics, at Melbourne University, and then relocated to South Australia and the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy campus to study winemaking, where she was dux of her class.

Rose joined Yalumba in the Barossa Valley in 1992. She was then the Hill-Smith Family Estates’ head winemaker from 2006-23, and has been a driving force in sustainability, and natural yeast and bacteria to make wine, with the Estates’ wines becoming vegan in 2012.

Rose has been recognised by her peers several times, including in 2014 when she was voted the best winemaker in Australia by 100 industry leaders. She is currently a director of the South Australian Wine Industry Association, having also been chair of the Australian Wine Research Institute and is a long-term member of the University of Adelaide’s Alumni Council, having served as chair from 2014 to 2023.

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