Adelaide’s big names and most successful people – and their connection to South Australia’s top private schools
From footy stars to political leaders and business gurus, some of the state’s biggest names lend support or share their expertise with Adelaide’s top private schools.
SA News
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Adelaide’s top private schools have helped produce some of the state’s most famous faces, many of whom have gone on to great success in their chosen careers.
While some are simply celebrated as old scholars, others have maintained strong connections with their former schools, providing support or lending their expertise each school year.
Indeed some of these notable names aren’t even alumni – and have been employed to help guide the next generation.
From sporting heroes, to entertainment icons, political leaders and business gurus, here are some well-known South Australians and their links to Adelaide’s elite private schools.
SCOTCH COLLEGE
Raymond Spencer
One of the state’s most high profile businessmen, Mr Spencer is described as an “icon” in Scotch’s history, and the school’s new $27 million Purruna Spencer Newton Centre has been partly named in his honour.
Mr Spencer, who was previously chair of the school’s governing council for eight years and is still on the advisory board of Scotch Enterprises (a separate commercial subsidiary of Scotch College), is chairman of South Australia’s Economic Development Board and of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.
The Adelaide-born father-of-four is the former chief executive of the financial services strategic business unit of Cap Gemini, and is chair and co-owner of acclaimed Adelaide winery Hentley Farm Wines.
Nathan Eagleton
Head of Football
The former Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs star took up the top footy position at Scotch in 2018 following an illustrious career in the AFL.
Mr Eagleton played 56 matches for the Power across three seasons before moving across to the Bulldogs in 2000, going on to play 221 games for the club and kicking 186 goals. The South Australian midfielder retired at the end of the 2010 season having played 277 AFL matches.
Eagleton’s part of a big-name sports coaching group at Scotch, with Kelly Rossi (Norwood female football co-ordinator) head of girls football, and Ryan Kitto (former Adelaide United star) head of soccer.
Todd Roberts
Chair of the council of governors
This Scotch old scholar joined the school’s council of governors in November 2020 before taking over as chair in August 2021.
During his over 25-year career in finance and professional services around Australia and the UK, Mr Roberts held various executive roles at the Commonwealth Bank before becoming chief executive of Credit Union SA in 2020.
He was formerly a director and Chair of the Investment Committee at the National Heart Foundation of Australia, and is currently a director at Kickstart for Kids and Chair of Leaders Institute of SA.
PEMBROKE COLLEGE
Michael Griffiths
Part-time teacher
The Adelaide cabaret star is still closely linked with the school where he spent his formative years, as a part-time teacher and guest performer.
The Fringe festival favourite spends one day a week giving one-on-one singing lessons to senior students at Pembroke, and also shows off his talents on stage at various events for the school.
“It’s great to be back there teaching,” he said. “I’ve got some really talented kids who want a career in music theatre so it feels good to be back and passing on whatever I might have learned in 24 years in showbiz.”
Mr Griffiths sang at Pembroke’s carols last year, performed at their 50th anniversary celebrations earlier this year, and will perform at another black-tie event for the school at SkyCity in August.
The Perth International Cabaret Festival director said he was fortunate to go to a school like Pembroke.
“They had a good music department so I credit Pembroke with a lot of the reason why I’m doing what I do,” he said. “I had great music teachers, really inspiring ones. I know not every school has a music dept so I was lucky.”
Michael Knoll
Head of Football
The former Sydney Swans and Norwood footballer took over the top footy position at Pembroke earlier this year.
The 205cm Knoll was originally a basketballer who attended St Ambrose University, in Iowa, on a scholarship. He transitioned to Australian rules and was eventually selected by the Swans in the 2019 mid-season draft, also playing for the Redlegs in the SANFL.
Most recently, he’s moved into coaching, working as Football Skills Development Coordinator at Christian Brothers College in 2021 and coached both U18 and Reserves at Norwood Football Club since 2021. He’s also completed his Level 3 Coaching Accreditation from the AFL.
Vincent Ciccarello
Director of development and philanthropy
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s former managing director, Mr Ciccarello was only recently appointed to the Pembroke role. It comes after he joined the school’s foundation board in June last year.
An ex journalist, Mr Ciccarello has enjoyed a long career in the arts. He is on the UNESCO City of Music Board and was formerly Treasurer of the Arts Industry Council of SA, as well as head of philanthropy and enterprise at the Art Gallery of SA.
SEYMOUR COLLEGE
The Downer family
One of the state’s most famous families, the Downers have been longtime supporters and contributors to Seymour.
The Downer matriarch, the late Lady Mary Downer attended the school back in the 1930s when it was still known as Presbyterian Girls’ College. Her three daughters and two granddaughters, Georgina and Henrietta Downer, also studied at the top private school.
Lady Downer’s son, former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, and his wife Nicky Downer, an influential behind-the-scenes arts administrator and board member, have also supported the school.
Jo Francou
Head of Rowing
The former elite rower - who was part of Australia’s 2001 world champion lightweight women’s quad sculls team - was appointed the school’s first VIII/head coach for the 2022/23 rowing season.
Bringing over 20 years experience to the position, Ms Francou trained for over 10 years at the SA Sports Institute and during her career, won several national titles and represented Australia in both U23 and Senior national teams.
Vanessa Browning
Principal
The 14th principal in its proud history, Ms Browning was formerly head of Seymour’s junior school.
She came to Seymour with a wide array of experience including leadership and teaching roles at schools such as The Scots College (NSW), Matthew Flinders Anglican College (Qld) and Geelong Grammar (Vic).
She’s also part of a powerful household with husband Tim Browning the headmaster at St Peter’s College.
Emily Rogers
Head of junior school
The aunt of Adelaide former Miss Universe Australia Olivia Molly Rogers, Ms Rogers was made acting head of junior school at the start of the year.
A current parent and an Old Collegian of Seymour College, Ms Rogers previously spent 25 years at St Peter’s College, the vast majority as junior primary teacher.
Rebecca Humble
Chair of the board
Ms Humble has global experience with over 25 years in executive positions in the defence and national security sectors.
She’s worked in the US, UK and Europe, in roles such as Vice President of Global Strategy for the world’s largest military vehicles business (US$17bn) based in Washington D.C., Program Director for the Tornado Military Aircraft sustainment program in the UK and Head of Global Strategy for a GBP $4.5bn defence business covering the UK, Australia, Saudi, South Africa and Sweden.
Ms Humble returned home in July 2018, working for BAE Systems and Nova Tech in strategic roles, before this year joining QinetiQ Australia as chief strategy officer.
Brenton Cox
Board member
Mr Cox has been at Adelaide Airport for over a decade, the last two and a half years as its managing director.
He is also on the Adelaide University Business School Industry Advisory Board, Adelaide Festival Board and is a Property Council of South Australia councillor.
Mr Cox, who completed a masters degree at Cambridge University, was previously a non-executive director of Sydney Airport and Hobart Airport and worked with Macquarie in London and Sydney.
ST PETERS COLLEGE
David Rohrsheim
Member of Council of Governors
A former School Captain, Mr Rohrsheim worked as an analyst at big venture capital fund Draper Fisher Jurvetson, based in Silicon Valley.
After earning an MBA at Stanford University, Mr Rohrsheim returned to Australia in 2012 to launch Uber Down Under. By the time he left in 2019, Uber had about 60,000 drivers and millions of users.
Since 2020, Mr Rohrsheim has been in charge of South Australia’s $50 million Venture Capital Fund, designed to back local entrepreneurs and invest in promising companies.
Appointed to the board in 2020, Mr Rohrsheim is the youngest of four brothers who all attended St Peter’s: first brother Geoff was a prefect, second brother James was vice-captain, and third brother Andrew was captain.
Tim Browning
Headmaster
Mr Browning held senior positions at private schools across the eastern seaboard prior to being appointed to St Peter’s College in 2018.
He was previously head of senior years at Scots College in Sydney, director of boarding at Anglican Church Grammar in Brisbane, and senior boarding housemaster at Geelong Grammar.
A member of the SACE Board since 2021, Mr Browning is married to Vanessa Browning, principal at Seymour College.
Fiona Dorman
Member of Council of Governors
A trained scientist and business founder, Ms Dorman is State President and National Vice President of the National Council of Women and the Chair of the Premier’s Council for Women.
She has worked in a number of roles in academic and commercial medical research and has been involved in multiple start-up companies.
Ms Dornam is also former Deputy Chair of the Australia Day Council SA, Vice President vivoPharm Pty Ltd and Surgical Research Australia chief executive.
Andrew McLachlan
Member of Council of Governors
An old scholar and past parent, Mr McLachlan is a South Australian Liberal senator who took up the vacant seat in February 2020.
Prior to that, he was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council since 2014, where he was elected president in 2018.
Mr McLachlan has held senior leadership and executive positions in the financial services industry, and is a Colonel in the Army Reserve, serving in Afghanistan, and earning a Conspicuous Service Cross in 2007.
Josh Francou
Head of Football
Former Power star and Crows assistant coach Mr Francou – who has also coached at the Sydney Swans, Gold Coast Suns and North Adelaide – took the reins at St Peter’s College in 2022, replacing previous head of football Sam Elliot.
Mr Francou arrived with an impressive pedigree as a player, having won three Showdown medals with the Power and a Magarey Medal with North Adelaide, and as a coach at AFL and SANFL level. His wife Jo Francou works at Seymour as a Head of Rowing.
PULTENEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Scott Camporeale
Director of Football/Lead Program Manager
The former Crows assistant and Carlton premiership player took on the dual roles in 2022, following a distinguished AFL career which included 11 matches as Crows head coach in 2015.
An expert commentator on FIVEaa during the footy season, Mr Camporeale brings considerable expertise to the school and is involved day-to-day with co-ordinating the logistics of sport at Pulteney.
Michelle Den Dekker
Head of Performance
One of the country’s greatest female netballers, Ms Den Dekker was appointed to the new role in 2022, overseeing the training, leadership and development of all coaches in the school’s sporting program.
During her decorated netball career, Ms Den Dekker led Australia to two world championships as captain (1991 and 1995) and played a total of 84 test matches for Australia between 1985 and 1995, including 71 as captain. She was also inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame in 2009.
David Reynolds
Chairman of board of governors
Chief executive of the SA Department of Trade and Investment since 2022, Reynolds and his team are responsible for driving business investment in the state.
Previously with the Department of Treasury and Finance, he also serves as governor for AmCham Australia and as a director on a number of major boards, including Infrastructure SA, the SA Government Financing Authority (chair), Institute of Public Administration and the Committee for Economic Development Australia Policy Group.
Pamela Wall OAM
Philanthropist
Mrs Wall, alongside her late husband Ian (a Pulteney old scholar), has made a career of giving back to the community, and is well-known for being a generous supporter of a number of philanthropic causes.
This includes Pulteney Grammar, where the couple helped bring to life the school’s 175th anniversary quadrangle in May 2022.
Mr Wall, co-founder of technology company Codan, died aged 91 in October 2022, but his wife has continued their philanthropic efforts. Last year, she donated $5m to the University of Adelaide to establish an endowed academic chair – the Ian and Pamela Wall Chair in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
WESTMINSTER SCHOOL
Stephen Schwerdt
Head of Activities
Mr Schwerdt will be a familiar name to Crows fans, first as a player, then as the club’s high performance manager for almost 14 months.
After more than two years in a similar role at the Gold Coast Suns, then as a high performance consultant at Essendon, Mr Schwerdt worked as the SA Cricket Association’s physical performance manager, before taking on his new role at Westminster at the start of 2024.
Prior to his career behind the scenes at the Crows, Mr Schwerdt worked as a physical education teacher for a combined eight years at Thomas More College and Christian Brothers College.
Andrew Whiteman
Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School
Mr Whiteman retired from the Sturt Football Club at the end of the 2008 season after 162 matches in 11 seasons, including the 2002 premiership.
He started his career in the finance sector before moving into education, working at several schools around Adelaide including six years at Pedare Christian College. Mr Whiteman moved across to Westminster in January 2023.
Marg Angove
Netball coach and mentor
The legendary Adelaide Thunderbirds boss has returned for another year at Westminster as coach and player mentor, alongside other netball greats including Sarah McKay (Sutter) who will continue netball ambassador.
Current Thunderbirds assistant coach, Cathy Fellows, will take charge of the Premier League squad while former Adelaide Ravens sharpshooter Sharon Durbridge is another coach and player mentor.
PRINCE ALFRED COLLEGE
Richard Hockney
Chairman of the PAC Council
During a 27-year career in the banking and finance industry, Mr Hockney held senior leadership positions in the UK, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, including as Westpac state general manager SA, NT and Tasmania, and chairman of NAB in SA and head of NAB business banking.
A graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, Mr Hockney started work as a non-executive director and consultant from 2014.
An old scholar whose father and son both attended the school, Mr Hockney became chair of the PAC council in 2020.
Sophie Rayner
Council member
An experienced commercial and employment lawyer, Ms Rayner worked for over a decade as a senior associate at Lipman Karas and Johnson Winter & Slattery, before eventually launching Sophie Rayner Consulting in 2019.
A member of council since 2022, she’s also Chair of the PAC Risk and Compliance Committee and was a member of the Calvary Health Care Adelaide Human Research Ethics Committee.
Ms Rayner is married to Will Rayner, SA Cricket Association president and chair, who attended PAC as a boarder from 1991 to 1995. The couple have four children, with two boys enrolled at PAC as fifth-generation scholars.
IMMANUEL COLLEGE
Mark Bickley
Head coach
The Crows dual premiership captain took charge of the school’s First XVIII side in 2021, succeeding former Norwood player Troy Clements.
The 272 AFL-gamer, Hall of Fame member and one-time Crows interim coach has ties with Immanuel as his children have attended the college.
When first appointed, SEN SA breakfast show host Bickley said he believed Immanuel would be able to compete with the “big four” of Prince Alfred, St Peter’s, Rostrevor and Sacred Heart.
“It’s first and foremost about the boys enjoying themselves,” Mr Bickley said.
“The couple of years that you play college footy, they should be memories that you look back on and that you really enjoyed.”
WALFORD ANGLICAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Reverend Canon Jenny Wilson
Council member
A holder of a first class Honours Degree in Pure mathematics and a Diploma of Education, Ms Wilson taught mathematics for fifteen years in secondary schools in England and in Adelaide, at Sacred Heart Senior and at Pembroke.
She embarked on a Bachelor of Theology at Flinders University and was ordained a Deacon and Priest in 2006, later completing a Masters in Theology in 2015. She is Canon Precentor of St Peter’s Cathedral and oversees the Cathedral’s liturgy, education and pastoral care ministry.
Ms Wilson started on the council at Walford in September 2014 and is also a member of St Peter’s College Council of Governors.
Matt Johnson
Council of Governors Deputy Chair
Mr Johnson enjoyed a 20-year career in SA’s public sector, holding executive positions such as executive director of the State’s Social Inclusion Unit, and executive director of Trade, International Education and Immigration.
He was also group executive director in the Department for Environment and Water, where he was responsible for a number of the state’s top tourism destinations including Cleland Wildlife Park, Seal Bay and the Naracoorte Caves.
Mr Johnson served for four years as Deputy Agent General in London, leading the state government’s investment and trade objectives in Britain and Europe.
He’s now managing director of iconic South Australian food business, Ditters, as well as a director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and a member of the ASO’s Finance and Risk Committee.
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