Pearl Duncan

Pearl Maud Duncan (born 1935) is a retired Australian teacher, anthropologist, academic and Ngarrabul older family member. She was thought to be the first known tertiary-qualified Indigenous teacher in Australian however, this title goes to Maraget Valadian. In 2008 she was named a Queensland Great.
Early and personal life.
Duncan was born in 1935 in Emmaville, New South Wales however she spent her childhood as one of three Indigenous families, all Daley sisters, in Bundarra, NSW. After graduating secondary school, she left for Sydney to study further.
She was married for approximately 30 years.
Career.
In Sydney, Duncan gained tertiary teaching qualifications — the first known Aboriginal Australian to do so — before moving to Yarrabah in North Queensland where she taught for two years. During her time in Yarrabah, she starred in the 1953 documentary "Children of the Wasteland", a film about Indigenous life in the area that was a source of controversy amongst censors. She continued her teaching career elsewhere, including in the Torres Strait and New Zealand, and in 1977 was appointed to the National Aboriginal Education Committee. She has also worked as Head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, and in senior roles in the public service.
She holds a Bachelor of Letters in anthropology from the Australian National University and a masters degree in education from the University of Canberra. She completed her thesis on Aboriginal humour and was awarded a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014.
Honours.
She received a Centenary Medal "[in] recognition of community service through Indigenous education" on New Year's Day 2001, before being Queensland's nominee for Senior Australian of the Year in 2004.
Later, in 2008, she was named a Queensland Great, an honour which "recognises the efforts and achievements of remarkable individuals... for their invaluable contribution to the history and development of [the] state".
Legacy.
Each year, the Queensland Department of Education awards multiple Pearl Duncan Teaching Scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, named in honour of Duncan "[dedicating] her working life to encouraging, promoting and motivating indigenous participation in education".