This scholarship is made possible by a generous donation from the Ashton-Nixon Bequest, in memory of Stephen Ashton AM, who died in 2016 from mesothelioma. Steve was an architect who founded Ashton Raggatt McDougall together with Howard Raggatt and Ian McDougall in 1988, which later became ARM Architecture. ARM is an iconic architectural practice with a reputation for creative design and problem solving and has won multiple awards, including the Victorian Architecture Medal on five occasions. See www.armarchitecture.com.au
Steve, Howard and Ian were awarded the RAIA Gold Medal in 2016. Steve was awarded membership of the Order of Australia (AM) posthumously in 2017 for significant service to architecture through management and design roles, to professional organisations, and to motor sport.
Steve graduated in architecture from the University of Melbourne. He always thought that his Graduate Diploma of Business Administration had played an important role in the evolution of ARM and its subsequent successes. Steve and his wife, Rosemary Nixon AM, a dermatologist, established the Ashton-Nixon Bequest before he died, with the aim to provide a scholarship for architects to obtain professional training, be it in running a business, in leadership or other skills, which will enable their practice to develop and thrive. See www.ashtonnixonbequest.com.au