Faces running Victoria’s elite school boards
Lawyers, bankers, surgeons and former politicians are among the heavy hitters on Melbourne’s top private schools boards.
Education
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Melbourne’s top private schools are governed by some of the state’s most elite individuals.
From chief executive officers and solicitors to professors and pharmacists, these chiefs have impressive resumes.
Here’s who they are and what they do.
St Kevin’s College
Paul O’Malley
Is the advisory council chair of St Kevin’s College in Toorak.
He is an independent non-executive director of Commonwealth Bank and chair of their people and remuneration committee.
Mr O’Malley was also appointed a non-executive director of Coles Group Limited where he is the chair of the audit and risk committee.
He is also chair of Australian Catholic Redress Limited.
Claire Power
On the Board of Breast Cancer Network Australia where she is chair of the finance committee.
Sonya Smart
Chief executive officer at Villa Maria Catholic Homes Inc and non-executive director on the board of Meaningful Ageing Australia.
Natalie MacDonald
Chief executive officer of Country Fire Authority.
James Darcy
Partner at the international law firm Allens and a finance lawyer and adviser.
Evan Dwyer
Founder and managing director of RedZed, a leading lender in the Australian mortgage market.
Sean Lefoe
Managing Director of Shape Homes and the football director of the Camberwell Sharks.
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar
Bruce Henderson
Graduated from Penleigh and Essendon Grammar in 1966.
He was appointed to the board in 1989 and has held the role of chairman since 2011.
Mr Henderson started Bruce Henderson Architects in 1976 and remains chairman of Bruce Henderson Architects global practice.
David Whiting
Lawyer with more than 35 years experience, and conducts his own practice.
Robert Gottliebsen
Writes daily business and investment commentary for The Australian newspaper’s digital and print editions.
Gregory Aplin
Director of Applied Urban Solutions providing planning, development and government liaison advice to both public and private sector clients.
Paul Blacker
Minister of the Uniting Church and holds bachelor of theology and master of ministry degrees.
Domenic Cerantonio
Founding partner of Cera Stribley Architects and managing director of the practice.
Chris Clausen
Currently the chairman of the PEGS Audit and Risk Committee.
Elizabeth Dapiran
Specialist physician and works in the public and private health sectors.
Barbara Deery
Retired teacher with more than 40 years of experience in secondary education.
Lisa Lawry
General manager of people and culture at the Essendon Football Club, having also previously worked at BP Australia and Foxtel.
Paul Phelan
Founder and managing director of Health IQ Pty Ltd,
Wendy McMaster
Retired physiotherapist with 40 years’ experience in the public and private domains of healthcare.
Andrew Smith
Chief executive officer of Education Services Australia.
David Pitkin
Works full-time as a dentist.
Sally Tsang
Medical doctor completing specialist training in anaesthesia.
Geelong Grammar School
Paddy Handbury
Has been the chair of council since 2020.
He was re-elected to council in 2018 and was a chair of the foundation board from 2003 to 2007.
Mr Handbury was also a past student and parent of Geelong Grammar School.
John Chomley
An investment director of EMR Capital.
Kieron Jones
An Anglican priest serving as Vicar in the Parish of St. John’s, Flinders, St. Mark’s and Balnarring.
Steve Lansdell
Regional Manager at EPA Victoria and co-founder of CALD2LEAD.
Penny McBain
Chair of the Foundation Board and chair of the Tommy Garnett Scholarship Fundraising Committee.
Susan Nicolson
General practitioner based at the centre for Women’s Mental Health at The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Allan Shaw
Was chief executive officer of a national association for independent school principals and was an inaugural director of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.
Joon Yong
An international tax and strategy professional and regional head of tax APAC for CSL Limited.
Caulfield Grammar School
Jim Hayman
Was appointed president of school council in May 2018.
He is also the non-executive chairman of a Perth based engineering technology company and was a managing partner at the Heidrick and Struggles’ Melbourne office.
Mr Hayman holds experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, executive recruitment and directorships.
He was a past student and a parent of Caulfield Grammar School.
Ian Edney
Former treasurer and head of tax at BHP.
Emily Davis
Currently the Brand and Product Marketing Manager for Mercedes-Benz.
David Neal
Chief Executive of IFM Investors.
Melinda Honig
Australian Unity Limited’s general counsel, company secretary and chief risk officer.
Louisa Durbin
Worked at David Jones in a variety of senior management roles.
Matthew Scholten
Executive director, practice principal of Scholten Collins McKissock and Godfrey Pembroke Limited.
Richard Jones
Runs an executive coaching and leadership development company.
Jeremy Stone
Current chief executive officer and director of Vaysh, an advisory and investment company.
David Thompson
Managing partner of the Melbourne office of Hunt & Hunt lawyers.
Tanya Carroll
An e-commerce and Importing Specialist, owning and operating her online business, ScreenBuys.
Kelly O’Dwyer
Served as the Federal Member for Higgins, a member of Federal Cabinet and Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee.
Simon Gray
Has a range of commercial, leadership and construction experience gained over 38 years.
Adrian Redlich
Founded and is the chief executive officer of Merricks Capital.
Methodist Ladies’ College
Simon Martin
Elected the chair of Methodist Ladies’ College and had an executive career in finance and strategy roles at technology companies.
Mr Martin is an investor and director of a number of private technology companies including Sendle, Profectus Group, Agility CIS and MyPlanManager.
He has five children with his two youngest daughters at MLC.
Susan Dickinson
Former Principal of Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak.
Gabrielle Lim
Currently the Director of her own businesses and has previously acted in an advisory capacity to the board of YMCA Victoria Inc.
Victoria Atkinson
Was a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and now the National Chief Medical Officer for Healthscope Ltd.
Abi Cleland
Was a director for leading ASX companies, Coles, Computershare, Orora and Sydney Airports as well as Chairing a fintech company. Currently a director of Swimming Australia.
Claire Rogers
Previously chief executive of World Vision Australia and is a director of Melbourne Business School and Duty of Care Pty Ltd.
Carmel Mulhern
Is group general counsel and group executive legal and governance at the Commonwealth Bank.
Brian Sands
Experienced director and executive.
Adam Watson
Is the chief financial officer of APA Group, one of Australia’s largest energy infrastructure businesses.
Wesley College
Professor Rachel Webster AO
She has taught astrophysics, astronomy and physics for more than 20 years and is a member of faculty at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Webster is the author of more than 200 academic publications and a regular presenter at international conferences.
She was also awarded a place on the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll, is a board member of Astronomy Australia Limited and an honorary fellow of the Astronomical Society of Australia.
Sunny Chen
A Presbytery Minister of the Uniting Church, overseeing approximately 70 church congregations.
Cameron Bacon
Worked at KPMG and Grant Thornton.
Lynda Cheng
A non-executive director of Export Finance Australia and was previously deputy chair of South East Water Limited.
Melinda Geertz
Currently a director of Make-a-Wish Australia.
Peter Mastos
Member of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Development Board.
Tim Jackson
Founding director of Jackson Clements Burrows Architects.
Simon Rooke
A lawyer and chartered accountant.
Hugo Stephenson
Founder of DrugDev, a leading US-based developer of cloud-based clinical trial management systems.
Sarah Conron
Long serving member of the Women for Women Committee at Sacred Heart Mission.
Joanna Johnson
Chartered accountant with extensive experience at ASX listed and multinational life sciences and pharmaceuticals companies.
Xavier College
Tony Nunan
Was appointed chair of the school while also being the director and current chairman of the Board of the Australian Medicines.
Mr Nunan is a Melbourne based pharmacist who owns a number of community pharmacies.
Until early 2011, he was a director of the Monash University Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation.
Christopher Callinan
Was a member of the Victorian Chapter of Australian Catholic University for ten years, where he chaired the Chapter’s Victorian Planning and Advisory Committee.
Tim Dring
Currently a Partner in Ernst & Young’s Melbourne office and is the industry leader of Ernst & Young’s Banking and Capital Markets sector for Oceania.
Geraldine Farrell
Member of Swinburne University Council, director of the Hawthorn Football Club’s Foundation and director of a private biotechnology company.
Gerard Healy
Father Gerard Healy was a teacher at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education from 1996 until 2016.
Paul Quinn
Was a senior corporate lawyer and adviser.
Michael Ryan
Appointed headmaster of St Ignatius College in Adelaide in 1986.
Lilian Topic
Oversees the work of the Legislative Council Standing Committees Office at the parliament of Victoria.
Melbourne Girls Grammar
Mark Burgess
Chair of council and a board member of several investment management companies and a large industry superannuation fund.
He is also an advisor to international sovereign wealth funds and global investors.
Mr Burgess chairs a charity which mentors and sponsors state school students during their tertiary education and is actively engaged in student mentoring at the University of Melbourne.
Neil Appleton
Director at Lyons, a Melbourne based architectural practice which specialises in the design of complex public-sector buildings around Australia.
Alistair Mytton
Currently the chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Monash College.
Hayden Stockdale
Chief financial officer of Catapult, an ASX-listed global sports technology company.
Sharne Rolfe
Was assistant curate and then priest-in-charge at the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne from 2014 to 2020.
Cynthia Wong
Working as a global program leader at Xero which delivers beautiful software to small businesses.
Matt Campbell
Reverend whose educational philosophy is to create learning communities that nurture, care, challenge and inspire.
Christian Lawless
Member of the executive management team at Melbourne Girls Grammar as the director of business services.
Carolyn Clark
Worked as a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, the Australian Securities Commission, and at Telstra as corporate legal counsel.
Sarah Morgan
Non-executive director of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Anna Permezel
Began her career in retail management with David Jones and has worked for Unilever, McCormick Foods and Cadbury Schweppes.
Dimitri Kiriacoulacos
Had senior roles with National Australia Bank and Mayne Pharma.
Stephanie Wilson
Was an executive director with Candle Australia.
Sam Dugdale
An insights director for the Blue Ocean Consulting Group and a director of the Marketing Precinct.
Carey Baptist Grammar School
Tim Chilvers
Was appointed chair of the board after serving on the finance, risk and advancement committees over the past 10 years.
He was an old Carey Grammarian and a Carey parent.
Mr Chilvers has had 25 years’ experience as a financial services leader in Australia, UK and New Zealand.
Jo Bradshaw
Teaches in the tertiary sector and is the chair of the Baptist Union of Victoria.
James Evans
Overseen the development of Victoria’s major sporting, cultural and civic projects.
Jane Favaloro
General manager of Partnerships at Iglu Pty Limited, a purpose-built student accommodation provider that aims to support the growth of international education in Australia.
Mary Wooldridge
Former Liberal party MP who served as Minister for Mental Health, Women’s Affairs and Community Services. Now works as director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
Fiona Kelly
Director of VCS Foundation, an organisation supporting the elimination of cervical cancer and other large-scale population health programs.
Graeme Liebelt
Chairman of Amcor and director of the ANZ bank.
Alice Macdougall
Lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills who specialises in charity law.
Andrew Simpson
Principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn and the national head of their wills and estates division.
Haileybury College
Tom Poulton
Was elected the council chairman in 2009.
He was educated at Haileybury College in Brighton and retired from a career as a solicitor specialising in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance law and the law of resource development.
Mr Poulton was managing partner of Allens Arthur Robinson for more than 10 years.
Deborah Corrigan
Professor of Science Education at Monash University.
Phillip Hyde
Director of Cricket Victoria and the Australasian College of Dermatologists.
Grace Liang
Works for the Primary Health Network as the performance and reporting lead.
Darren Scammell
Member of the First XVIII Australian Rules football team and former partner of KPMG who specialise in the financial service industry.
Neil Sutcliffe
Managing partner of Morgan’s Family Office in South Yarra and chairman of the Haileybury Foundation.
Simon Terry
Chairman of Change Agents Worldwide and head of markets for Lantern Pay, a Health, disability, aged care and insurance payments platform.
Pauline Turner
Former principal of the Geelong College which she held for 17 years.
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