'Shirley McKechnie, as dancer, teacher and choreographer, is a pioneer of contemporary dance and dance education in Australia. Between 1963 and 1973 she was Artistic Director of the Australian Contemporary Dance Theatre. She founded the first degree course in dance studies in Australia at Rusden College (now Deakin University) and was Head of that program between 1975-84. She has since played a significant role in the establishment of tertiary courses in dance studies in Australia, was a founder of Ausdance and Founding Chair of the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia (TDCA) and was a Professorial Fellow at the Victorian College of the Arts until 2014.' (Source: The Australian Academy of the Humanities website)
