 Hi, I'm Garth Russell. Over the years I've had the pleasure of telling extraordinary stories about Nova Casterians. None more inspiring than this life long, if unlikely, friendship between a young Australian family and an ambitious Chinese boy. Ken and Judy Morley raised their young family in Newcastle in the 1970s and 80s. Ken was concerned about matters such as Aboriginal rights, peace and disarmament, environmental protection and renewable energy. Issues that were yet to have their day, but now feature prominently in national and international debate. In 1980, when the People's Republic of China was just opening up to the West, Ken took his family on an Australia-China friendship society tour across China, where they met Jack Ma, who was then an enterprising teenager who would ride his bike around the West Lake to practice speaking English with tourists. Jack first struck up a conversation with Ken's older son, David. A long friendship grew between Jack and the Morley family. Jack would write letters to David and Ken, and Ken would correct the letters to improve Jack's English. Before Jack's first visit to Australia in 1985, Ken jumped through many diplomatic hoops to host a Chinese national. Jack now considers that visit to Newcastle to be a turning point in his life. He discovered that there was an entire world beyond China. The Morley and Ma families became one, with Ken and his family visiting China frequently. Ken challenged Jack with rigorous debate on values and ideals. In 1999, Jack founded Alibaba.com, which grew into China's largest e-commerce company, with hundreds of millions of users. Jack is now recognised internationally as both a leading entrepreneur and philanthropist. The profound and enduring friendship between Jack and Ken remains strong, up until Ken's death in 2004. The bond, now spanning multiple generations, remains incredibly special to both the Morley and Ma families. In 2014, Jack established the Jack Ma Foundation. Its mission is to work towards a world of bluer skies, cleaner water, healthier communities and more open thinking. The Jack Ma Foundation and the University of Newcastle are embarking on a lasting partnership to honour this extraordinary friendship by creating a unique and impactful scholarship program that will inspire, educate and cultivate the next generation of globally aware and socially conscious Australian leaders for many years to come.