Professor Don Markwell will resign as head of North Adelaide St Mark’s College two months early

The head of the North Adelaide college will step down earlier than initially expected amid a nationwide search for a replacement.

St Mark's College head Professor Don Markwell will step down on August 1. Picture: Supplied.

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Head of St Mark’s College in North Adelaide Professor Don Markwell will step down about two months sooner than initially expected.

It came as St Mark’s announced the appointment of Brian Kennelly as interim head of college, who would take over from Prof Markwell on August 1.

In a release from the college in June, it was initially announced Prof Markwell would continue to serve as its head until September 30.

Ms Matthews said while there was initially three months left on Prof Markwell’s contract, “since that time we were able to find someone as an interim head”.

The college board then made the decision for Mr Kennelly to take up the role early.

“We thought it would be a really good idea for him (Mr Kennelly) to start for semester two,” Ms Matthews said.

“I don’t think Don’s (Markwell) unhappy about a few extra month’s leave.”

Ms Matthews anticipated that “it’s going to take some time” to find a permanent head of the college.

This week, St Mark’s College board chairwoman Linda Matthews revealed former private school principal with more than three decades in education, Mr Kennelly as its interim head.

He had previously served as the principal of the Essington School in the Northern Territory and in senior roles at companies in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

“The board has every confidence that in his interim appointment, we have a leader of high calibre to help steer the College’s ongoing development and success,” Ms Matthews said.

Mr Kennelly will begin the role in August “to align with the second semester and to ensure a seamless transition of leadership”.

St Mark's College outgoing head Professor Don Markwell. Picture: Supplied.

St Mark's College interim head Brian Kennelly. Picture: St Mark's College

The college will hold a farewell for Prof Markwell in the last week of July, prior to his departure “to thank him for his dedicated service”, Ms Matthews said.

The recruitment process for a new permanent head of college is underway and will “involve a national search for suitable candidates to take on this critical role”.

Prof Markwell resigned from St Mark’s, which he had worked at since 2019, to take up the role of head of King’s College at the University of Queensland.

Prof Markwell formerly worked as higher education adviser to then federal education minister Christopher Pyne from 2013-15 and was a key player in the Coalition’s failed push to deregulate university fees.

He became the head of St Mark’s College in November, after an 18-month stint rebuilding the reputation of long scandal-plagued St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney.

But not long before Prof Markwell took up the job at St Mark’s, the college was undergoing what it called “cultural renewal” after former students made a series of claims in the first half of 2018.

They included a young woman who said she was forced to have sex with an older resident on her first night at St Mark’s, following an alcohol-fuelled “sex tour” involving public masturbation and hardcore pornography.

A range of reforms were instituted after former SA equal opportunity commissioner and head of Women NSW, Ms Matthews, became St Mark’s chairwoman in mid-2018.