Mentone Girls’ Grammar shines a light on past student success
From trailblazing surgeons and Vaudeville stars to tennis champs, media legends and humanitarian crusaders, Mentone Girls’ Grammar students have reached amazing heights. Here’s 20 of the school’s top graduates.
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The past students of Mentone Girls’ Grammar are a talented and diverse bunch.
The school has produced graduates in who have become leaders in the fields of science, medicine, media, sport and more.
Here are just 10 of their remarkable 'Old Girls'.
THE SIMPSON SISTERS, CLASS OF 1889
The Simpson Sisters were educational pioneers and the best possible examples of remarkable women in a business and entrepreneurial sense.
Minnie and Effie Simpson were tasked with setting up Mentone High School for Girl’ (later renamed Mentone Girls’ Grammar School) in 1899 while their younger sisters, Daisy and Ethel were the first pupils.
Effie assumed the role of Principal until 1906 while Minnie took charge of household duties associated with the boarding house.
Daisy and Ethel later became accomplished teachers in their own right.
Effie had a clear philosophy for education and expected a high degree of excellence from both students and teachers.
She encouraged her staff to instil vitality and interest in their subjects to inspire passion in learning.
The Simpson educational philosophy was simple; ‘to be bold, to do one’s best and to never give in’.
The Simpson sisters introduced a program including English, mathematics, Latin, French and elementary drawing, together with a range of optional subjects including German, botany, physiology and callisthenics.
MARGARET MCLORINAN, CLASS OF 1901
Margaret McLorinan was renowned for her exceptional ability as a surgeon and for her kindness towards patients.
She commenced her studies in medicine at the University of Melbourne at the age of 15 and was one of the first women to be admitted to the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, pioneering the delivery of healthcare for women by women in the early 1900s.
Margaret was a staff member for 21 years at the Queen Victoria Hospital where she was one of Melbourne’s most distinguished surgeons.
She was president of the Honorary Medical Staff, a member of the committee of management and was the driving force and founder of the Obstetrics Department where she delivered 200 babies in her first year.
During this time, Margaret was appointed honorary surgeon at the Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.
She was known throughout Victoria for her strength of character, professional ability and personal charm.
During the war years, when there was a lack of doctors, Margaret simply doubled her workload.
In 2002, Margaret was officially recognised for helping shape the nation and was included in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
ANNETTE KELLERMAN, CLASS OF 1902
Annette Kellerman was known for challenging social norms and for her courageous drive and determination to succeed despite the odds. She believed she could do anything she wanted – and she did.
Annette was born in 1886 with bowed legs and at age two was unable to stand upright, living with the physical and emotional pain caused by heavy leg braces until a doctor recommended she try swimming. The rest is history.
Annette took on the world on a self-styled journey to international acclaim as a long distance swimmer, diver, dancer, actor, fitness expert, author, model and movie star.
She became the highest paid Vaudeville star in USA with her sparkling costumes, daring dives and underwater antics.
Annette claimed “My early physical misfortune has turned out to be the greatest blessing that could have come to me.”
She became a pioneer of women’s endurance swimming and was the first woman to attempt to swim the English Channel.
Annette starred in early aquatic films as Queen of the Sea and Neptune’s Daughter which was filmed in the Great Barrier Reef.
Her own life story was subsequently filmed under the name of The Million Dollar Mermaid.
By all accounts, Annette was not a brilliant student and she encountered numerous social restrictions (she was arrested in the USA in 1908 for indecency after wearing a male bathing costume that was well above the knee).
But armed with strength of mind and an unfaltering belief in herself, Annette led a phenomenal life.
NANCYE WYNNE BOLTON, CLASS OF 1934
Nancye Wynne Bolton was a professional tennis player who won the Women’s Singles title six times at the Australian Championships, third only to Margaret Court’s and Serena Williams’ 11 and 7 titles, respectively.
She won 20 titles at the Australian Championships, second only to Court’s 23 titles.
Nancye was ranked in the world top ten in 1938, 1947, and 1948 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 4 in those rankings in 1947 and 1948.
Nancye was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.
DULCIE BOLING, CLASS OF 1949
Dulcie Boling is a legend of the Australian media industry.
While at school, she was heavily influenced by the principal at the time, Jeannie McCowan who was an intellectual, an early feminist and an outstanding role model.
Dulcie developed a burning urge for journalism and before the age of 15, she began her position as copy girl at the Herald and Weekly Times.
Following the birth of her children, Dulcie commenced work at New Idea and quickly progressed to editor and then editorial director of Southdown Press, in charge of publications including TV Week, Australasian Post and Truth. She ultimately became chairman and chief executive.
Dulcie served on several corporate boards including News Corp, ING, Country Road, several IT and venture capital companies.
Dulcie became an independent director of Seven Network, now known as Seven Group Holdings and held this position for 23 years.
Dulcie went head to head with some of the fiercest competitors in the industry. She was one of Rupert Murdoch’s top executives, risked the ire of the British monarchy by publishing the scandalous ‘Camillagate’ tapes and she even managed to stare down the formidable Kerry Packer when he challenged her decision to move New Idea into supermarkets – a move which was an outstanding success.
Dulcie was a long term director of the Mental Health Institute, the Australian Cancer Institute, Chairman of the Treasury Trust, Tourism Victoria, a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria and an inaugural trustee of the Melbourne International Festival.
MARY BAWDEN, CLASS OF 1969
Following school and with a love for education and teaching, Mary was accepted into Melbourne Kindergarten Teachers’ College where she was elected as Student Representative Council as well as music club president and choir member.
Mary embraced her leadership qualities that flourished at school – she represented the Peninsula and Chelsea Kindergarten Teachers’ Association as a committee member and President.
Unfortunately, in the early 2000s, Mary’s health declined dramatically leading her to have a liver transplant. It was a very challenging time for Mary, yet she felt like she had been given a second chance at life and her focus changed to promoting organ and tissue donations through DonateLife and Transplant Australia.
Mary has competed in the Transplant Games in swimming, archery, kayaking, ten pin bowling and more.
In the 2014 Melbourne Games, she was awarded the Clifford T Henderson award for ‘Best demonstrating the spirit of the Games’.
Following the 2018 Gold Coast games, she was awarded ‘Most supportive female competitor’ in the Victorian team.
Mary is so grateful for her second chance at life and has given back to the community to an extraordinary degree. She is making the most of her life and warmly honours her donor and family.
JO CAVANAGH, CLASS OF 1971
Jo is an experienced NED, board chair, chief executive, and social entrepreneur, committed to creating value and impact for social good.
As Principal of Jo Cavanagh Consulting, she provides strategic advisory services to aspirational leaders and for organisations seeking to be future focused and grow their impact for social and economic change.
Jo also holds positions as an adjunct professor with Swinburne University in the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, chair of the Good Things Foundation Australia, chair of the Swinburne Advisory Council for the Centre for Social Impact and a member of the Community Services Industry Alliance Reform Council.
Jo has extensive executive and board level experience and a track record for successful innovation, enterprise and impact in the social sector, well demonstrated as the founding chief executive of Family Life, a leading organisation for innovation, entrepreneurship and community change.
Jo’s professional career began as a social worker with the most vulnerable children in juvenile justice, child protection and out of home care. Her direct experience with children who were abused, led to a successful Churchill Fellowship in 1990 to study ‘Preventing Abuse of Children in out of home care’.
As an informed voice for change, Jo worked with government and community agencies to improve the quality of care in Australia, and in the Melbourne Children’s Court developing alternative dispute resolution in the family and criminal divisions. She has held national advisory and sector leadership roles aligned to improving the wellbeing of vulnerable populations.
CHRISTINA GREEN, CLASS OF 1981
Since completing Year 12 as deputy head girl, Christina Green has had a multi-stranded career in music, working as an independent performing songwriter/composer, choral musician, instrumental teacher, workshop leader and music therapist.
Christina completed a B. Mus. (Hons) at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Music (1985) with first class honours, receiving the Catherine Grace McWilliam Prize for best final year student.
After a few years of mostly instrumental teaching, Christina studied music therapy at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre in London, UK, supported by a British Council Award, working at the Centre and in other contexts including the Terrence Higgins Trust’s London Lighthouse, a centre for people affected by HIV/AIDS, and becoming active in London’s folk/acoustic scene. She also had the chance to sing choral music at St Martin in the Fields, central London.
Since 2000 Christina has worked in Melbourne as a music therapist with various client groups alongside activities in the acoustic/folk scene, with highlights including festival performances at Maldon, Yackandandah, Newstead Live, PAVE (Performing and Visual Arts in Emerald) and the Irish and Celtic Music Festival, Yass.
Completing further study (M. Mus. in composition, University of Melbourne, 2009, and DCA/Doctor of Creative Arts, Western Sydney University, 2019), Christina has built an active life as a composer of contemporary art music while maintaining singer-songwriter strands.
A wonderful coming together took place in No Excuses, a choral suite for women’s choir and instruments inspired by survivor’s true stories of family violence, which Christina co-composed with Mentone Girls’ Grammar alumnus Dr Kathleen McGuire. The two co-led performances of the work at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2016.
DR KATHLEEN MCGUIRE, CLASS OF 1982
Since graduating from Mentone Girls’ Grammar as dux and the school’s inaugural recipient of Music Colours, Kathleen McGuire has carved an extraordinary career path in the music industry spanning more than three decades in seven countries.
Working extensively as a conductor of orchestras and choirs – as well as ballet, opera and musical theatre productions – she has performed at the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.
Kathleen holds multiple qualifications, including a Master of Music degree with Distinction from the University of Surrey (UK) as a Rotary Ambassadorial Fellow and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In California, Kathleen directed the 200-voice San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus for a decade, along with the Community Women’s Orchestra.
She also founded Singers of the Street, a choir for people affected by homelessness.
Upon returning to Australia in 2013, she was Residential Director of Music at Queen’s College – The University of Melbourne and conducted ‘Voices Without Borders’: a choir for immigrants and refugees.
Currently, Kathleen is a tenured academic in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Australian Catholic University and Music Director of the Tudor Choristers. Recent accolades include the Vice Chancellor’s Alumni Award (University of Surrey).
One of her most notable projects is No Excuses – a choral suite for women’s choir and instruments inspired by survivor’s true stories of family violence, which Kathleen co-composed with another alumnus, Dr Christina Green.
WENDY LEEGEL, CLASS OF 1983
Wendy Leegel is a leadership cultural change executive specialist practitioner.
She provides strategic advice to boards and executives on sustainable culture frameworks and environments.
She represents Senator Hon Mathias Cormann, Finance Minister on the Senate Committee for Insolvency, and is the immediate past Global Chair of IPA (Institute of Public Accountants) and IFA UK (Institute of Financial Accountants in UK).
With several tertiary qualifications including Masters in HR/Leadership (majoring transformational change and culture), she also holds a public practice certificate and is a practitioner of culture with Global Specialist Human Synergistics.
Wendy is an ambassador for BreastScreen Victoria and a Finalist in ‘Women in Leadership’, HQ Outstanding Leadership Awards 2020.
Wendy is currently executive director of her own business, Leegel Consulting Group that specialises in mergers and acquisitions, organisation cultural integration, technology and global risk, as well as people transformation and workforce capability strategy.
Her previous roles include director of organisational change and culture Australian Digital Health Agency, director organisational culture and engagement unit for the Public Safety Business Agency Queensland, executive consultant Transurban, executive consultant/lecturer Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University Master’s Program, executive manager for Change Suncorp, head of workforce capability global markets, ANZ and head of capability improvement retail bank, NAB.
Wendy believes much of her success comes from the education she received at Mentone Girls’ Grammar.
“I have achieved many of my goals because of the lessons I learned at school from educators focused on building positive self-esteem, resilience, self-confidence, goal setting, diversity and tolerance,” she said.
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE SARAH DERRINGTON, CLASS OF 1984
The Honourable Justice Sarah Derrington was appointed president of the Australian Law Reform Commission and a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from January 10, 2018. Prior to her appointment, Justice Derrington was the Dean of Law at the University of Queensland and a barrister specialising in maritime and shipping law, general commercial law and arbitration.
Justice Derrington is deputy chair of the Australian Maritime College (AMC) board, a member of the Commonwealth’s Admiralty Rules Committee and the Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM), and is a fellow of the Nautical Institute, the Australian Academy of Law, and the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences.
She served as a director of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) from 2012 until December 2017 and is a past president of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ).
She was elected as a titular member of the Comité Maritime International in 2016.
She has been published in leading international journals in the field of marine insurance and carriage of goods by sea and, with James M Turner QC of the English Bar, co-authored The Law Practice of Admiralty Matters (2nd ed, OUP, 2016) and with Dr Michael White AM QC, Australian Maritime Law (4th ed, Federation Press, 2020).
She was the coeditor of the Queensland Reports from July 2011 until May 2015.
NICOLE BRADTKE, CLASS OF 1987
Nicole Bradtke (nee Provis) is a retired professional tennis player.
She won three singles and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She reached the semi-finals of the 1988 French Open, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics, partnering Rachel McQuillan.
In mixed doubles, Nicole reached four Grand Slam finals, winning two of those partnering Mark Woodforde.
She reached career high rankings of No. 24 in singles and No. 11 in doubles.
Nicole is married to former Australian Olympian basketballer, Mark Bradtke and she is sister-in-law to Todd Woodbridge, retired Australian professional tennis player and current sports broadcaster with the Nine Network.
Nicole served as a coach for the Australian Fed Cup team from 2006 – 2015. In 2007, she joined the National High Performance Academy team.
Nicole is known for her true ANZAC spirit, of never giving in, of taking risks and continually challenging herself to achieve her best. Nicole has been an inspiration to many aspiring sports stars over the years.
RAKHEE GHELANI, CLASS OF 1990
After completing degrees in law (with Honours), commerce and management, Rakhee’s career followed a traditional path for 16 years, specialising first in international taxation before moving into strategic development.
Rakhee worked in a challenging and rewarding corporate career for some of Australia’s best known brands including Foster’s, General Motors Holden and ANZ Bank.
In 2011, in her mid-30s, after some challenging times personally, Rakhee decided to forego her traditional career and move to India.
While travelling, she started writing a travel blog and soon received offers to publish her writing.
She was regularly featured in a vast array of online blogs, travel columns and print publications including The Australian, BBC Good Food magazine, Eatability food magazine, Forbes Travel Guide, and more.
In 2015, Rakhee adopted a little girl in India and decided to return home to be closer to family.
In Australia, she set up a niche content marketing agency called Legal Writers that she continues to operate today.
DR MANJUSHA THORPE, CLASS OF 1991
Dr Manjusha Thorpe is business development and commercialisation manager at the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) in Perth.
She has led an exceptional career, underpinned by her studies in chemical engineering and Japanese at Monash University and her PhD at the University of Cambridge.
Following her undergraduate degree, Manjusha recruited and managed teams in construction, commissioning new process technologies at chemical plants in Borneo, Indonesia and Australia.
She flourished in leadership roles, setting up and managing the Singapore office of a global consulting company that benchmarks the performance of multimillion-dollar capital projects across a range of industries.
Manjusha’s current role involves identifying opportunities to co-invest with the developers of innovative technologies and services to improve the profitability of farming operations for Australian grain growers.
She ensures that the GRDC’s investment funding has maximum leverage and that investments generate revenue which can be reinvested to achieve enduring profitability for the grains industry.
She negotiates the contracts with investment partners to manage intellectual property risks and ensure freedom to operate and clear pathways to market for new technologies.
Manjusha is involved in the design and start-up of a suite of investment mechanisms aimed at accelerating the development and commercialisation of innovative technologies. She also promotes the GRDC’s brand by delivering radio interviews and conference presentations, and she provides thought leadership at industry events.
“The agriculture industry needs to grow in an ethical manner in order to provide the food needed by an increasing population,” she said.
DR SARAH MILLER CLASS OF 1992
Dr Sarah Miller has won awards for her work as a clinical and forensic psychologist.
She completed her doctorate in psychology on cross-cultural mental health and also has qualifications in human resources; international and community development; and is currently studying human rights law.
Sarah has a special interest in working in the humanitarian sector.
Sarah was deployed with the Red Cross following the floods in Pakistan, the typhoon in Philippines, and the massacre in Norway.
She has worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict zones such as Chechnya in Russia with families of those missing through war, and in Syria, Israel and Palestine as the Mental Health Adviser to develop mental health programs for those affected by the ongoing crisis.
Sarah is the only Australian psychologist on the delegation list for deployment by ICRC to conflict zones.
In addition Sarah has worked with refugees and asylum seekers in immigration detention centres such as Manus Island and Christmas Island and in remote Aboriginal communities in Northern Territory.
She is currently the COVID-19 Mental Health Adviser to the Chief Health Officer in the ACT.
Sarah reflects on her time at school by saying, “Mentone gave me a great foundation. Education is a luxury that people in many countries do not get the opportunity to access. Value your time learning as a gift which gives you choices, awareness and perspective.”
DR PRATITI (MIMI) BANDOPADHAYAY, CLASS OF 1994
Dr Pratiti (Mimi) Bandopadhayay dedicates almost every waking hour to the pursuit of finding a cure for incurable paediatric brain tumours.
As a world leader in her field, Mimi runs her own lab at Harvard University that focuses on finding treatments for children suffering brain tumours.
In addition, Mimi is a member of the clinical paediatric neuro-oncology team in the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, largely considered the world’s best facility for treating paediatric brain tumours.
She is an assistant professor of paediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and an associate member of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard.
“The families I meet go far beyond their own child’s life-threatening situation and support other children and families who are in similar circumstances,” she said.
“They inspire me to join them on the mission to find better treatments for children who desperately need them.
“Many brain tumours do not have cures, and children who do survive are too often left with devastating side effects from the tumours and the treatments required to control them.
“But I see a lot of hope! Scientific advances are allowing us to understand more than we ever have about the tumours and we are starting to find better treatments.
“We won’t stop until we find treatments for every child diagnosed with a brain tumour that allows them to grow up and achieve everything they were destined to achieve.
“These children drive us every day to make what seems impossible, possible.”
CHRISTINE MELIS, CLASS OF 1998
Christine has forged a brilliant career in public law, including administrative law, commissions of inquiry and coronial inquests.
She has advised and appeared in a variety of matters including the Lindt Cafe siege inquest, the Takata Airbag inquest, the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission, the review into the functions and operations of the Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate within the NSW Department of Education and Terrorism matters.
She was part of a team that successfully brought the first applications under the Crimes (Serious Crime Prevention Orders) Act 2016 (NSW) against members of two OMCGs.
Christine is a trained advocacy instructor with the Australian Advocacy Institute and has been a lecturer in trial practice and advocacy in the Faculty of Law at Monash University.
She has taught advocacy to law students in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu and established a mentoring program called ‘Empowering Women in the Law in PNG’.
“Teaching in the Pacific changed the way I saw the law,” she said.
“I realised, as a lawyer, I had the power to make a change, for the better, to the lives of women students who faced insurmountable hurdles to participate equally in the practice of law.”.
Christine has an interest in human rights matters, particularly equality before the law and asylum seekers. She has represented a number of asylum seekers in the Supreme Court of Nauru on several trips there and served on a number of boards including Australian Women Lawyers (as Vice President), Victorian Women Lawyers (as Convener) and Victorian Bar Council.
DR SUZIE SHEEHY, CLASS OF 2001
Dr Suzie Sheehy is a physicist, academic and science communicator who divides her time between her research groups at The University of Oxford (where she is a Royal Society University Research Fellow) and The University of Melbourne (where she is Senior Lecturer). Her research focuses on developing new particle accelerators for future applications in areas such as medicine and energy.
An award-winning public speaker, presenter and science communicator, Suzie is dedicated to sharing science beyond the academic community.
She has delivered professional lectures and keynote presentations and written and delivered live shows to tens of thousands of people including headline shows at the UK’s largest science festivals.
She is an expert TV presenter for Impossible Engineering on Discovery Channel and in 2018 delivered her first TED talk as part of TEDx Sydney, which has received more than 1.7m views.
Her first popular science book is due out in all major bookstores in 2021.
Suzie is passionate about the promotion and communication of science for which she has received numerous awards, including the British Science Association Lord Kelvin Award and The University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Civic Award.
Advocating for science and in particular, physics to young females is important to Suzie, “Only about 10 per cent of accelerator physicists are female so I want to share my passion for the subject with as many people as possible, break down those stereotypes and inspire others in this fascinating field.”
DR BAO NGUYEN, CLASS OF 2002
Dr Bao Nguyen is a researcher in human visual neuroscience, clinician (optometrist) and a lecturer in optometry and vision sciences at The University of Melbourne.
She graduated as dux of the school — achieving the top 0.15 per cent of students in the state.
Bao was inspired by the sole female academic at that time in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences to undertake a Doctorate of Philosophy (2009-2014).
Her PhD uncovered vision anomalies in people who suffer from episodic migraines and suggested why the brain might be susceptible to migraine attacks.
Throughout her career, her research has spanned a range of fields, from understanding how healthy ageing and childhood development affect vision and the brain, to deciphering the commonalities between healthy ageing and pathological ageing in people with human immunodeficiency virus, to developing and running clinical trials for new vision testing devices.
Bao has published 17 scientific papers in top ranking peer-reviewed journals in the fields of ophthalmology, neuroscience, psychopharmacology, neurology, and multidisciplinary sciences. She was the first optometrist to be recognised with a 2017 BioMedVic Early Career Clinician Researcher Award.
“Educating girls is the key to tackling the world’s pressing problems. I came from a refugee background with a narrow focus on survival, to realising my potential to make a greater contribution to society thanks to my education at Mentone Girls’ Grammar. I am proud to be a ‘career’ woman, a mother, and an educator, and hope to inspire young women about the life-changing opportunities that education provides.”
NEARY TY, CLASS OF 2005
Neary Ty is a television reporter for the Nine Network.
She was born in Australia but her parents moved from Cambodia as refugees in the 1980s.
Neary studied a bachelor of media and communications at Deakin University majoring in Journalism.
Inklings of Neary’s career path started when she undertook work experience at Dolly and Cleo magazines and thereafter, a two week internship with the Moreland Leader.
Her journalism career started with the local newspaper, writing, researching, conducting interviews and finding stories. She soon became a freelance property writer for various Leader Newspapers.
Neary undertook work experience at WIN TV in Ballarat and then Nine News Melbourne in 2012.
Neary’s current role as news reporter has seen her covering countless stories specialising in crime.
She’s been short-listed for journalism awards for her breaking news coverage about counter terror raids as well as the Bourke St terror attack which resulted in the tragic death of Sisto Malaspina. Neary was also part of the rolling coverage when Harry and Meghan visited Melbourne.
About her job, Neary says, “It’s a privilege to be able to share stories with Nine News viewers every night. To be able to put a spotlight on issues that wouldn’t normally see the light of day and bring justice for grieving families. I love my job especially when I can help locate a missing person or track down a suspect as a result of my report.”