Else attended Brisbane Girls Grammar School from 1957 to 1960, after being born on 19 January 1944 in Cape Town, South Africa, the country of birth of her mother, Molly. While raising two young children (Else and her younger sister, Inge), Else’s parents became increasingly disturbed by the injustices of Apartheid and decided to relocate to Australia. The family moved to Brisbane in 1956 when Else was 12 years old, with her Danish father, Otto, taking up an appointment in the Department of Physiology at The University of Queensland (UQ). He went on to become a Professor, while her mother, a school teacher, became Head of The Women’s College at UQ.
1960 6B Form picnic on Mirama
1960 6B Form picnic on Mirama, Jenny Nielsen and Else Budtz-Olsen
Else chose to study electrical engineering at UQ—a pioneering choice at the time. She was one of only two females to graduate in electrical engineering (with Honours) in Queensland in 1965. She had loved mathematics and physics at Girls Grammar and has said her inspiration to become an engineer came from watching Sputnik, the first human-made satellite to circle the earth in 1957. After graduating, she immediately got married and moved to Mackay, where her first job was as Operations Research Engineer at the Sugar Research Institute. It was the 1960s, and she had to find her way in what was very much a ‘man’s world’. She joined the Institution of Engineers, which at the time, met in a men’s club where she had to enter unseen through the back door. Ironically, she was named their Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year in 2000—despite this earlier injustice.
Her subsequent long career in engineering included entrepreneurial and management roles, teaching, and board memberships. In 1994, she became Chairman of the Board of Powerlink, overseeing the state’s high-voltage electricity network, a position she held for 17 years. Among other board positions over the years was her service on the BGGS Board of Trustees.
2002 Board of Trustees
2000 Class of 1960 40 Year Reunion
Else was a significant figure in engineering in Australia, and was subsequently appointed a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, as she was considered among Australia’s top engineers. She was passionate about increasing the number of women in engineering and mentored numerous women from those early in their careers to experienced engineers. She was instrumental in the success of many initiatives including Chair of the Smart Women, Smart State task force with the Queensland Government, The University of Queensland Industry Committee and Women in Engineering program, and the not-for-profit Power of Engineering. These programs were all successful in attracting and retaining women into the profession.
Music was also an important part of Else’s life. In 1984, she studied choral conducting at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, graduating with a Graduate Diploma in Music. She founded and conducted a community choir, ‘Diversions’, and more recently a small, all-women’s choir, ‘Harmony in Paradise’ on the Gold Coast where she lived. She was a member of the Board of Camerata and over many years supported and encouraged them on their journey to become Queensland’s major chamber orchestra.
The diversity of Else’s engaged, influential, and kindly life was recognised with many honours, including: Fellowships of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences; Membership of the Order of Australia (AM) (2003); Honorary Doctorates from UQ, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University; Peter Nichol Russell Medal (2006); UQ Alumnus of the Year (2009); Queensland Great (2022); and to her delight, having one of the tunnel boring machines in the Cross-River Rail project named in her honour.
Else with her UQ Alumnus of the Year award in 2009
In the late 1950s, Girls Grammar was a very scholarly school but far from close-minded or driven by competitive goals. We were encouraged in whatever paths we would follow in life, to be women with a good store of knowledge—at best a love of learning—an in-built curiosity, and a sense of responsibility and kindness towards others. The seeds were here of the unassuming, generous, and profoundly ethical leader Else would become. Her sense of the importance of those school days played a part in her governance role with the School in later years.
To her family, her many friends, and others whose lives she touched, she will remain a guiding star.
Immediate past Chair of the BGGS Board of Trustees, Elizabeth Jameson, said: ‘Ms Else Shepherd, whose passion for and commitment to the School both as a past student and a past parent, was evident in her willingness to contribute freely of her valuable skills. As an engineer and experienced company director, Else was an important role model for our girls in relation to the less traditional engineering career option for girls, and also in the focus she brought to many of the Board’s critical decisions around infrastructure and development projects.’
Dr Ruth Blair (1960)
1960 Prefects (L-R) Back Row: Deirdre Muirhead, Margaret McCallum, Valerie Skerman, Else Budtz-Olsen, Ruth Blair, Dorothy Rutter, Joan Simpson Front Row: Ann Fielding (Head Boarder), Robin McInnes, Robyn Holt (Head Girl), Sandra Astill, Linda Lewis
For those who would like to follow Else’s career and life in more detail, please follow the links below.
State Library of Queensland Digital Stories: Else Shepherd.
Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland: Else Shepherd.
QUT Science and Engineering: Entering a Man’s World: Else Shepherd.
University of Queensland Alumni: Ms Else Shepherd AM.
University of Queensland Alumni: Else Shepherd Honorary Doctorate citation.
