Scotch College

1940s

Two Old Boys were among a number of Uniting Church ministers whom the church honoured for 50 years’ service as ordained ministers. Rev Malcolm Williams (’46) and Rev Bill Pugh (’51) took centre stage at a special service of thanksgiving, tribute and celebration at LaTrobe University last September. Malcolm and Bill were students at Ormond College Theological Hall from 1955 to 1957.

1950s

With a headline of ‘The ultimate in public service’, the Canberra Times profiled Oliver Raymond (’55) last year. Oliver had received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the Canberra region through a range of community organisations. Describing Oliver as ‘one of Canberra’s arts stalwarts’, the paper said he is ‘the sort of person on which community groups thrive – he is highly organised, dependable and indefatigably cheerful’.

Nurseryman Roger Broinowski (’55) is a man on a mission, according to the WA Countryman magazine. Roger has developed an initiative called ‘colour our town’, which encourages neighbourhoods, villages, towns and even whole cities to plant a riotous streetscape of colour, using sustainable plants which grow well in WA’s climate. The magazine said Roger’s idea is quite simple: everyone should plant a few colourful plants in front of their homes and businesses. ‘Most colourful sustainable plants only need a few splashes of water a week and a bit of fertiliser,’ Roger says, ‘and adding some colour makes such a difference to the streetscape and to people’s lives.’

Graeme Flockart (’57) is a CFA co-ordinator for the Rosebud–Mornington Peninsula and worked 24 hours a day co-ordinating volunteer teams during the Black Saturday bushfires.

Tom Christen (’58), now living in Switzerland, was a member of the 1958 1st Crew, and recalled that the crew was favourite for the Head of the River, but ended up last after one of the crew unfortunately caught a ‘crab’. After leaving Scotch, Tom studied commerce at Melbourne University, but as he and his family were of Swiss origin they returned to Switzerland, where Tom was called up for military service. After his service he studied hotel management, and during this period he met his future wife, Priscilla. They were married in 1968, and had a daughter and a son. Tom eventually owned a hotel and ski resort in Switzerland. Experiencing the vicissitudes of the hotel business led Tom to try his hand in the airline business and in real estate – and then he made a brief foray back into hotels. Tom’s career has been an interesting and varied one, taking on challenges in several industries.

1960s

After he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) last year, Ian McClelland (’66) made front page news in the Buloke Times, Donald, Victoria. Ian received his Queen’s Birthday honour for service to agriculture, particularly through the development of sustainable crop production systems, and innovative farming and land management practices. In an article which took up almost the entire front page of an edition of the Times, the paper congratulated Ian, describing him as a ‘man of vision’.

Hugh Duncan (’68) studied engineering at Monash University with an emphasis on water resources, and he has worked with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and Melbourne Water ever since. He has been on full-time secondment to the Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology and its successors since 1994, looking at a wide range of urban water issues. Hugh is married and has a daughter and two sons.

James Tulloch (’68) is a consultant physician in geriatric medicine. He has sent three boys to Scotch, estimating that during his boys’ Scotch careers he has attended eight Foundation Day concerts and 13 Family Days. He enjoys seniors’ tennis (‘when my injuries allow’), sailing on Port Phillip Bay and playing tuba in a brass band.

John Digby QC (’69) was elected in late 2008 as the Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council, to represent the 1750 barristers at the Independent Victorian Bar. John has practised as a barrister since 1979 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1993. John practises in the area of commercial law. John is also a senior fellow at Melbourne University , teaching international construction law and international arbitration law, at masters level, in the faculty of law.

1970s

Jonathan Angell (’77) is in the UK, where he works for lawyers Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. Jonathan and his wife Sharon have one son, Matthew.

Paul Symon (’78) has been appointed a major-general and deputy chief of the army. Paul reports to the chief of the army and is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of Army policy, programs and administration by army headquarters divisions, commands, and army staff overseas.

1980s

Ross Mollison (’81) established Mollison Communications, which has become Australia’s leading arts and live entertainment marketing and publicity consultancy. Among many shows, his consultancy has produced ‘Puppetry of the Penis’, the Spiegelworld tent at the Australian Open tennis, and another Spiegelworld which he is building on the Strip in Las Vegas. Ross lives in New York and visits Australia annually.

David Bell (’85) and his cousin Tom Fraser (’01) have established ‘Guide My Ride’, which David and Tom call a ‘simple and trustworthy means of purchasing a reliable car’. They say ‘Guide My Ride’ provides a buying opportunity for people who don’t want or can’t afford a new car. The website address is www.guidemyride.com.au.

Paul Ness (’85) is a qualified sports physiotherapist and works full-time in the world of professional tennis on the ATP World Tour. He also spends some time at Box Hill Physiotherapy when not on the road. The photo shows Paul treating Fernando Verdasco during his semi-final against Rafa Nadal, which was the longest match in Australian Open history.

Matt McGregor (’86) is a sports psychologist who has worked with footballers, volleyballers, netballers, basketballers, tennis players, athletes – and now jockeys. In a project entitled ‘Starving in the Sport of Kings: Weight Management and Cognitive Function in Australian Jockeys’, Matt used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore the weight management experiences of horse-racing jockeys, and measure the psychological effects of repeated cycles of rapid weight loss. As a direct consequence of Matt’s research, the Victorian racing industry has initiated a number of workplace policies and practices that target the health and welfare of its jockeys.

Based in the UK, Tim Jones (’86) has worked in the airline industry for 17 year, including 11 years with Alitalia and six years with British Midland airlines.

Tony Stubbs (’87) and his wife Sarah welcomed their first son, Hugo Jack, born in Sydney on 13 August 2008.

Matt Tucker (’88) and his wife Natalie Simmance welcomed the arrival of Max Harley Tucker, a brother to Jamie, born on 29 September 2008. Matt is senior property manager at Jellis Craig Real Estate, proud OSCA sponsors.

1990s

John Batchelor (’92) and his wife Georgina welcomed their first child, Thomas John, on 13 March 2009. John is currently working in Hong Kong with corporate recovery specialists Ferrier Hodgson, and has been in Hong Kong for four and a half years.

Peter Mathews (’92) continues to live in New Brunswick, Canada, about an hour’s drive from New York. He spent about four months teaching tertiary English in China at the end of 2008. He has just been appointed as the incoming chair of English and Foreign Languages at the university where he teaches. On 20 May he plans to visit Melbourne for several weeks to see family and friends.

Dugald McWilliams (’90) and his wife Fiona welcomed the arrival Jock Duncan on 7 January, a brother to Angus.

Tom Gregg (’93) is leading a globetrotting life, working with the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) in Afghanistan, in the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. He has been in Afghanistan for the past four years, first as head of UNAMA’s south-east region, and then as political adviser to the special representative, Kai Eide.

Tom travels with the representative to capitals around the region (Pakistan, Iran and Russian and central Asian neighbours) focusing on a range of political and human rights issues, and other areas such as countering the trade in narcotics. He also travels to Western capitals, meeting heads of state and senior ministers.

Prior to UNAMA, Tom worked for the Australian Council for International Development and as an independent researcher based at the Australian National University, Canberra. He is co-author of How Ethical is Australia: An Examination of Australia’s Record as a Global Citizen (2004), and has a master of arts (international relations) from the Australian National University.

Tom returned to Melbourne at the end of 2008 for an extended break to spend time with family and friends back home.

Tom Gregg pictured in 2005 on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border during election monitoring. With Tom are local government and electoral officials and Nepalese bodyguards.

Friends in high places: Tom Gregg in the Oval Office at the White House with former US President George W Bush and officials.

Stuart Milliken (’94) and his wife Alissia welcomed their first son, Harry Charles, born in Melbourne on 22 August 2008.

Mathew O’Brien (’96) and his wife Sarah welcomed a daughter, Clementine Eva, born on 11 December 2008. Mathew, Sarah and Clementine live in Sydney, where Mathew works in the finance industry.

Greg Wiggill (’97) and his wife Jane welcomed their first child, a daughter – Alice Gwendolyn Victoria – born on 14 August 2008. Jane is a sister of David (’94) and Cameron Fitter (’00).

2000s

In August 2008 John (’01) and Sheena Mathews and family moved to Canberra so that John could commence work as an environmental officer, having completed his honours year in marine biology at Flinders University in Adelaide. On 27 January 2009 their third son, Benjamin Andrew was born.

James Birch (’02) was at Scotch from the beginning of Year 7 through to the end of Year 9, after which he moved to Box Hill Senior Secondary College to pursue more hands-on subjects. At Box Hill he was awarded ‘best overall achievement’ for the Year 10 technology program, and ‘best overall achievement’ in the Year 12 sport program, gaining his VCE in 2002.

In 2005 James joined the army and was posted to a specialist infantry unit, where he injured his back during training in 2007. In August 2008 he was offered work in an Australian medical company, and he was deployed to Afghanistan as an ambulance driver/medic in the company’s emergency medical response unit. This is where he is now working. ‘With the continuation of training and development of additional skills as time goes on, my plan is to continue working overseas in hostile environments, doing protective security/medical tasks while the tempo remains high,’ James says. ‘Scotch College definitely gave me the education, discipline and understanding of quality early that has put me in the position I am in today.’

David Heaton (’03) was a member of the Melbourne University law school’s winning moot team, which booked itself a place in the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington DC after winning the Australian moot final. David was named ‘best oralist’ in the final. A ‘moot’ or ‘moot court’ is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument.

Along with two mates, Adam North (’03) runs Hopkins River Beef, supplying steaks to some of Melbourne’s top restaurants, as well as to retail shoppers. ‘From paddock to plate’ is the business’s slogan, and it claims to be the only company in Australia cutting out the middle men in this way. One leading Melbourne restaurateur commented: ‘It is the best quality beef I have ever encountered. The very best service is provided and every special request is always attended to with the highest dedication and professionalism.’ All the beef comes from the family property of Adam’s co-proprietors at Dunkeld.