Posted on

Ivan Shearer Scholarship for study in Oxford or Cambridge – call for applications for 2023-24

A generous bequest by the late Professor Ivan Shearer AM RFD has enabled the creation of the Ivan Shearer Scholarship to support St Mark’s Collegians to study at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge.

An international law academic and practitioner who developed a high global reputation, Ivan Shearer (1938-2019) was Dean of St Mark’s College from 1968 to 1971, and an Honorary Fellow of the College from 2005. Read more about Ivan Shearer here.

The first Ivan Shearer Scholarship was awarded in 2022 to Rebecca Keeley (St Mark’s 2012-14) for study in the 2022-23 academic year in Oxford.

The College now invites applications for the Ivan Shearer Scholarship from members of the College who meet the eligibility criteria and who will be, or expect to be, studying at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the 2023-24 academic year (including from members of the College currently studying at Oxford or Cambridge).

Eligibility: Under the terms of Professor Shearer’s will, the Ivan Shearer Scholarship is open to current and Old Collegians of St Mark’s College, Adelaide, who have resided at St Mark’s for at least one academic year.

Purpose and value: The Scholarship will be paid towards the travel, accommodation, tuition, and/or general living expenses of the Scholar/s to support them to study at either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. Any part of the Scholarship used for payment of fees will be paid directly by St Mark’s College to the relevant college in the University of Oxford or Cambridge, or to the relevant university, and any part to be used for travel, accommodation, and general living expenses will be paid to the Scholar/s by St Mark’s College.

The award for the 2023-24 academic year will comprise a single Scholarship with a value of up to $37,000 (AUD), or a number of Scholarships totalling not more than $37,000. In the case of more than one award, the selection committee will allocate funds to Scholars according to assessed merit and need. As tuition and living costs in Oxford or Cambridge will exceed $37,000 per annum, applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for other scholarships and sources of financial support.

At the absolute discretion of the College, a Scholarship may be renewed for up to two further academic years subject to satisfactory performance by the Scholar and the Scholar demonstrating need for the renewal of the Scholarship. In exceptional circumstances, the College may give consideration to a further award to enable a doctoral student to complete their doctorate at Oxford or Cambridge; no Scholar should assume that such further funding will be possible.

Criteria for award: The award will be based on:

  • excellence in intellect, character, leadership, and service; and
  • demonstrated need for financial support to study at Oxford or Cambridge.

Candidates must have applied to, or been admitted to study at, or be studying at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge at the time of application. (If a candidate is already studying at Oxford or Cambridge, the Scholarship could support them either to move to a new course, or to complete a course for which they are currently enrolled; in either case, financial need would need to be demonstrated.)

The academic standards for admission to Oxford and Cambridge are very high, and the selection committee will offer the Scholarship only to a candidate or candidates who, in its judgement, is/are likely to be admitted to Oxford or Cambridge, and to achieve at a satisfactory standard there.

The Scholarship will only be confirmed upon successful admission to the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, and will not be paid if the Scholar does not take up their place at Oxford or Cambridge. The College may apply other terms if judged appropriate.

Preference will be given to candidates undertaking or intending to undertake a graduate degree.

The Scholarship will not be offered if there is not a sufficiently qualified candidate who is also in need of financial support.

The names of Ivan Shearer Scholars are recorded on an honour board in the Junior Common Room at St Mark’s.

Application process: Applications should comprise a letter of application, addressed to the Head of St Mark’s College, and enclosing:

  • a full curriculum vitae (of up to three pages);
  • a complete transcript or transcripts of all your university study to date;
  • a statement (of up to two pages) outlining:
    • details of the course of study proposed to be (or being) undertaken at Oxford or Cambridge, and the status of your application for admission to that University and any of its colleges (including, if relevant, second preference for a course);
    • your reasons for undertaking this course; and
    • your likely or intended further study (if any) and career after undertaking this course;
  • a personal statement (of up to three pages) outlining your interests, priorities, and motivation, which reflects how you fulfil the criteria of excellence in intellect, character, leadership, and service;
  • a statement (of up to two pages) setting out your need for financial support to study at Oxford or Cambridge, including details of other scholarships or sources of financial support applied for or likely to be applied for, and the status of those applications; and
  • the names and contact details (including email addresses and telephone numbers) of three referees, at least one of whom must have formally taught you in a university course.

The font size of the CV and statements should be no smaller than 11 point.

Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Thursday 13 April 2023.

Selection process: Selection will be by a committee appointed by the College, comprising individuals of high academic and/or professional standing.

The committee will interview only short-listed candidates, and references will ordinarily only be sought for short-listed candidates.

It is likely that interviews will be in May or June 2023.

The award of the Scholarship is at the absolute discretion of the College.

For further information: please consult the Head of College, Professor Don Markwell.

For this information as a PDF, click here.

Posted on

Richard Watson Scholarship supports medical students from regional Australia

Through the generosity of his family, a significant scholarship in support of medical students from regional Australia has been endowed in memory of Honorary Fellow of the College and plastic surgeon, Richard Wyndham Watson (5 September 1936 – 14 June 2020).

Richard was a medical student at St Mark’s from 1956 to 1961, and later served the College in many capacities, including as a member of the College Council from 1976 to 1993, in which year he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the College.

Richard came to St Mark’s from Yorketown in South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. His family – Mrs Mary Watson, and their sons, Mark and Guy Watson – have generously donated to create a scholarship that will enable future medical students from regional areas around the country to have the same opportunity to be at St Mark’s.

The Richard Watson Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student from regional Australia who is or will be studying medicine. It will be awarded on the basis of academic excellence, commitment to service, and financial need, and may be awarded to either a new or returning student.

The details of the Richard Watson Scholarship and other scholarships, along with details of how to apply, are on the College’s website here. Scholarship applications from new students close on 17 January 2023.

Richard Watson was born in Yorketown in 1936. Growing up, he spent many hours driving through the countryside making house calls with his father, a GP. He was educated at Yorketown Area School and then as a boarder at St Peter’s College, where he was a House Prefect and took part in rowing, football, and the debating, science, and music societies.

He came to St Mark’s in 1956 as a resident student while studying medicine at the University of Adelaide. Richard was highly regarded over several years as the coxswain of the Adelaide University Boat Club’s Senior VIII. His crews won state championships and represented AUBC in the Intervarsity Boat Race (a three-mile race) between 1957 and 1961. Awarded a University Blue for rowing, he served in 1961 on the Blues Committee of the University Sports Association, and on the University Boat Club Committee. In the same year, he served on the committee of the Adelaide Medical Students’ Society.

Alongside his contribution to College rowing, for which he was awarded College Colours and Letters, Richard was very active in other aspects of College life throughout his six years in residence at St Mark’s. His College Club roles over the years included Comptroller of Coca Cola, Curator of Telephones, Buttery Curator, and member of the College Club Committee in 1960 and 1961. He served as College Archivist in 1961.

At the end of that year, Richard graduated MB BS, and subsequently added FRCS (Edinburgh) (1968) and FRACS (1972) to his medical qualifications. His early medical work including lecturing in Anatomy at Guy’s Hospital, London, in 1964-66, and working mainly in plastic surgery in Bristol and Glasgow (1967-71).

Richard returned to Adelaide as Senior Visiting Specialist (Plastic Surgery) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, from 1972, and helped set up and was head of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit there from 1989. From 1972, he also lectured in surgery at the University of Adelaide.

In the 1950s, Richard had undertaken National Service in the Royal Australian Navy, and during the years spent in the UK from 1963 to 1972, he joined the British Army as a medical officer, was made a captain, trained as a paratrooper, and was subsequently appointed patron of the British Airborne Forces Association of South Australia, a position he held until his death. He also served from 1972 as a consultant plastic surgeon to the Australian Army and RAAF.

Richard’s other professional service from the 1970s to the 2010s included as a foundation member of the Australian Association of Hand Surgeons, Chair of the AMA Medico-Legal Committee, and member of the SA Health Commission Task Force on Patients’ Rights. He served as ship’s surgeon twice on supply ships to the Antarctic, in 1982-83 and 1986-87, charged with recording the bird logs on both expeditions, and as ship’s surgeon on Pacific Island cruises from 2003.

Soon after his return to Australia from his medical work in the UK in the early 1970s, Richard resumed his active involvement with St Mark’s which continued until prevented by ill health not long before his death. Richard served on the College Council from 1976 to 1993, including on the Executive and Finance Committee from 1979 to 1993, and on the Education Committee from 1986 to 1993.

Richard also served on the Committee of the Old Collegians’ Association from 1977 to 1981. He was active in fundraising for the College from the 1970s, including as a member of the Foundation Board from 1984 to 1989. Amongst many other gifts, Richard donated the equipment which enabled the College to set up a drafting room for engineering and architectural students, and an anatomical skull for use by medical students.

One of Richard’s most important contributions to St Mark’s was to the Library. In 1988, at his instigation moves were made to set up a Library Sub-Committee, of which he became the enthusiastic chair, and a professional librarian was appointed. Richard chaired the Library Sub-Committee until he went to Oxford in 1993 for graduate studies, and rejoined it in 2001, serving until 2009. He had a strong commitment to the modernisation of the Library, including the security and expansion of the collection and the preservation and display of the rare books.

Pirjo Rayner, the professional librarian whom Richard helped to appoint over 30 years ago and who continues to serve as our Librarian today, has written that we owe Richard “a great debt of gratitude” for his commitment to the Library, “his unwavering support and also for his very enjoyable company”.

This enthusiastic involvement with the St Mark’s College Library reflected Richard’s wider literary and scholarly interests. For some years he wrote book reviews in the weekly literary section of The Advertiser. His interest in history and classics led him in 1989 – in his 50s – to undertake the secondary schools’ matriculation course in Classical Studies, which he passed as equal top student in the State.

This led on to Richard’s decision to go back to the UK to study History at Christ Church, Oxford, which he did in 1993-95, graduating with an MPhil – and making life-long friends among students there, just as he had done in his six years at St Mark’s nearly four decades before. For several years following graduation from Oxford, he applied his historian’s skills by leading numerous groups on tours through Europe and Turkey and providing lectures on specific histories of the regions.

Before going to Oxford, Richard’s outstanding services to the College were recognised with his election as an Honorary Fellow of the College, and a dinner in his and Mary’s honour in the Senior Common Room.

Richard’s service to the College continued after his return from Oxford – including serving as Acting Master during Master Robin Ashwin’s leave of absence in April and May 1998, serving again on the Library Sub-Committee, and on the Honorary Fellows Committee for many years.

Richard and Mary Watson have been great supporters of College events, and Richard continued as a generous donor to the College (including for building works and scholarships) and was recognised as a Benefactor of the College Foundation.

Richard is remembered in the St Mark’s community as a kind, gentle, warm-hearted, humble, amusing and engaging man, who was also confidently decisive in a collegial way: in the words of one who knew him well, “a true delight”.

It is very fitting that his memory be perpetuated at St Mark’s, including with a significant scholarship named for him, which will help future medical students from regional areas to gain the benefits of being at the College he loved and which played so large a role in his life.

The College is deeply grateful to the Watson family for this significant endowment and the life-changing opportunity it creates for students.

Posted on

Professor Melanie Oppenheimer gives J C Bannon Oration on “Volunteering for the Ages”

Australia’s leading historian of volunteering, Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, recently gave a fascinating overview of the modern evolution of volunteering in Australia and issues facing volunteering today, in the J C Bannon Oration for 2022 at St Mark’s College.

The Bannon Oration is a major annual public lecture given in memory of Dr John Bannon AO, the seventh Master of St Mark’s College (2000-07) and the second-longest serving Premier of South Australia (1982-92).

In introducing Professor Oppenheimer, the Head of College, Professor Don Markwell, spoke of volunteering as one form of the community service which St Mark’s encourages in its students, as the College’s founders intended that it should. He spoke of John Bannon – a resident undergraduate student at St Mark’s in 1962-63 – as exemplifying the College’s ideal and tradition of service.

Now based at the Australian National University, Melanie Oppenheimer was previously Professor of History at Flinders University and has held positions in Australian history at the University of Western Sydney, the University of New England, and the University of Tokyo. A Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, she has recently completed a two-year term as President of the Australian Historical Association.

For over twenty-five years, Melanie Oppenheimer has been interested in exploring the role of voluntary organisations, volunteers and voluntary action in times of war and peace, and the history of volunteering, gender and humanitarianism, with a special interest in the Australian Red Cross and the Red Cross Movement.

Professor Oppenheimer’s J C Bannon Oration was entitled “Volunteering for the Ages”, drawing on Shakespeare’s “seven ages of man”, and she discussed how those many individuals who choose to volunteer often do so in different ways at different stages of their lives. She rejected the claim that young people do not volunteer, arguing instead that they often volunteer in different ways from their elders. She referred to experience in one’s own family as an important factor in determining if and how individuals will choose to volunteer.

Professor Oppenheimer drew attention to the evolution of concepts and definitions of volunteering so that it is now accepted as being “time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain”, be that in formal organisations or in informal contexts of unpaid support to non-family members. Volunteering had shifted from being seen to be a leisure activity to being seen as unpaid work. She highlighted that volunteering in Australia had only been formally measured since 1995, with the definition of volunteering and methods of gathering data on it changing over time.

Her overview of the evolution of volunteering in Australia drew attention to the defining characteristics of what she has called the “Australian way of volunteering”, the pivotal role of the 1970s in the growth and development of volunteering and not-for-profit organisations, the scepticism about volunteering that some (such as the British minister Richard Crossman) expressed at that time, the impact of the Sydney Olympics of 2000 and the United Nation’s International Year of Volunteers in 2001 in a resurgence of volunteering, the way that South Australia had often led the way in the governmental recognition and support of volunteering, the launch of a National Volunteering Strategy in 2011 and current work to develop a new National Strategy for Volunteering, and the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen a considerable decline in formal volunteering, pandemic burnout for volunteers and for paid staff alike, and the voluntary sector under considerable stress, and in some cases in crisis.

Professor Oppenheimer referred to how volunteering necessarily changed with changes in patterns of paid work, such as are currently underway, and raised a number of issues for governments and others to consider for the promotion and support of volunteering in the changing realities of this third decade of the 21st century.

Professor Oppenheimer’s Oration will be published by St Mark’s College in coming months as a small book.

Further details of the 2022 J C Bannon Oration, and of Professor Oppenheimer, can be found here.

For Professor Markwell’s welcome and introduction at the 2022 Oration, click here.

Watch the full J C Bannon Oration here:

 

Posted on

The year ends with focus on service – and winning the High Table Cup!

Winning the High Table Cup, a highly successful Marksenfest music festival, the election and appointment of an impressive team of student leaders for 2023, and awards for outstanding student service and achievements in 2022 have made for a very positive end to the year at St Mark’s.

Community service was a major theme of the closing weeks of the academic year. On 18 October, the historian Professor Melanie Oppenheimer gave the 2022 J C Bannon Oration on the topic “Volunteering for the Ages”, looking at how volunteering – an important form of community service – has evolved in Australia over recent decades. You can read a report on the Oration here. The volunteering of many of our own students has been reflected throughout the year in the active work and fundraising of the students’ Charitable Foundation.

The importance of community service was also a theme of the College’s Final Service, held at St Peter’s Cathedral on Saturday 29 October. The Head of College, Professor Don Markwell, reflected on the College founders’ vision of St Mark’s promoting commitment to community service, and on the importance of aiming to be “the best version of yourself” – a phrase used at the start of the year by College Club President Caitlin Glascott, and returned to in various ways throughout the year. Professor Markwell’s address is here.

October had begun with St Mark’s and Aquinas nail-bitingly tied for first place in the High Table Cup (HTC) inter-college sporting competition. First place for St Mark’s in the table tennis on 13 October (with Aquinas in fifth place) saw us resume the lead in HTC. The following Sunday, a beautiful spring day of athletics in which we tied with St Ann’s for second place, behind Aquinas, clinched St Mark’s HTC win for the year.

Results of all sports and a selection of photos from throughout the year are here.

Another beautiful spring day the weekend before the athletics saw the return of Marksenfest, last held in 2019, as a celebration of arts and culture. Over 1,000 young people enjoyed music, other entertainments, and good food and drink in a day which was superbly organised by the College Club Committee, lead by Caitlin Glascott.

After a rapid overnight clean-up, the following morning the College hosted a brief visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev’d Justin Welby, and Mrs Caroline Welby. Archbishop Welby planted a fig tree in the College’s garden. He and the Head of College also spoke in memory of Canon Julian Bickersteth (1885-1962), the driving force in founding the College nearly 100 years ago, just days before the 60th anniversary of Canon Bickersteth’s death in Canterbury, where he was a Canon of the Cathedral.

A key development in October was release of the report of Professor Catharine Lumby’s review of what we do and can do better to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct. Professor Lumby described the College’s approach as “gold standard”, and we are committed to implementing her recommendations in full. Details of the Lumby Report are here.

During October, student leaders for 2023 were elected and appointed. The Student Executive Team for 2023 comprises:

Assistant Deans: Cameron Akehurst and Ella Browne

College Club President: Ben McCure

College Club Vice-President: Tori Lowe

College Club Secretary: Cass Joubert

College Club Treasurer: Ben Ransom

Senior Residential Advisor: Miah Sherry

Senior Academic Tutor: Jord Howard

Indigenous Student Advisor: Jasmyn Lloyd

Charitable Foundation President: Libby Chisholm

Full details of the 2023 student leaders are here.

The College is very grateful for the outstanding service of the 2022 student leaders, and the willingness of so many students to serve the College community in 2023.

The Final Dinner held on the College tennis courts after the Final Service on 29 October saw many awards made which reflected the achievements and service of our students in various ways.

The Collegians’ Prize for 2022 was awarded to Eliza Lee. The Collegians’ Prize is awarded (following a rigorous selection process involving student leaders and staff) to a student who has made the most outstanding contribution to the College, their university, and the wider community over a period of years. It was presented by Riley Glynn, President of the Old Collegians’ Association, and himself a former joint winner of the Collegians’ Prize.

The Lilias Needham Medal for Service – given in recognition of “an outstanding example of selfless service” – was awarded to Lachy Matheson. The medal is named for Lilias Needham (1900-75) who, as well as enabling the creation of the prestigious Hawker Scholarships, was an extremely generous benefactor to St Mark’s College, including making possible the purchase of the house named in memory of her brother C. A. S. Hawker – but who insisted there be no public recognition of her generosity in her lifetime.

In recognition of their outstanding leadership and service to the College community, awards were made to the most senior appointed student leaders for 2022:

Senior Academic Tutor: Anastasia Pannell

Senior Residential Advisor: Isabel Unwin

Assistant Deans:  Jackson Furst and Lachlan Matheson

The most outstanding academic achievement was recognised with Academic Colours and Commendations:

Academic Commendations for first year students:

Ruby Ford
Cate Lin Loo

Academic Commendations for second year students:

Jessica Cassidy
Patrick Douglas
Vijay Legoe
Darcy Lillicrapp
Ephraim Nann
Talia Robinson
Sinead Sidhu
Sophie Tan

Academic Colours for second year students:

Oliver Leslie
Corey Smith

Academic Commendations for third year and above:

Oliver Douglas
Jess Hulett
Lachlan Matheson
Molly Rogers
Grace Whyte

Academic Colours for third year and above:

Ella Nunn

The Sir Keith Angas Essay Prize, for an essay on the future of Artificial Intelligence in Australia, was awarded to Oscar Hemmings.

The College Club Committee made several awards:

Male Athlete of the Year: Riley Herbert

Female Athlete of the Year: Eliza Lee

College Club awards for First Year Students of the Year: William Gillett and Luke Robertson

College Club Colours were awarded to these students:

Tennis:  Eliza Lee and Oliver Douglas

Swimming: Ella Browne and Ben Grima

Netball: Sophie Ellis and Joey Watts

Debating: Belle Watts, Ben Ransom, and Will Gillett

Football: Tori Lowe and Jay Mullins

Hockey: Jess Hulett and Riley Herbert

Basketball: Sarah Nulty and Liam Phillips

Volleyball: Tori Lowe and Liam Phillips

Soccer: Eliza Lee and Luke Robertson

Table Tennis: Eliza Lee and Oliver Douglas

Athletics: Eliza Lee and Jean-Philippe Soulie

Arts Evening: Bianca Feher and Sadie Fuss

College Revue: Mia McEachern and Sarah Whyte

Students who were graduating or completing their degrees at the end of the year were recognised with the presentation to them of College banners by the Head of College. These students are:

Anubhav Arora, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting)
Rosie Costigan-Dwyer, Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences
Paris Cutting, Bachelor of Laws
Oliver Douglas, Bachelor of Arts
Mani Draper, Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing)
Fraser Haines, Bachelor of Commerce (Corporate Finance)
Jessica Hulett, Bachelor of Health and Medical Science (Advanced)
Hector Mackenzie, Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences
Kathryn Morey, Bachelor of Psychological Sciences
Jarrod Morrow, Bachelor of Human Movement
Ella Nunn, Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences
Edwina Page, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting)
Anastasia Pannell, Bachelor of Paramedic Science
Thomas Redding, Bachelor of Computer Science
Molly Rogers, Bachelor of Nursing
Ciara Schubert, Bachelor of Marketing and Communications
Liam Stevens, Bachelor of Engineering (Software) (Honours)
Bellarose Watts, Bachelor of Health and Medical Science (Advanced)
Saxon Westbrook, Bachelor of Business (Management)
Sarah Whyte, Bachelor of Film and Television

Students who are leaving the College at the end of this year had been welcomed to the Old Collegians’ Association with drinks at the Lodge the week before – one of many events, including the College Revue, helping to mark the end of the semester before exams began in early November.

The Final Service and Dinner saw tributes paid by staff and students to the late Dr Ian Wall AM, the Honorary Fellow of the College who, with his wife Pammie, was the largest donor in the College’s history. Ian had passed away on 26 October.

The day of Ian Wall’s funeral, Friday 11 November, saw students and staff line Kermode St and Pennington Terrace as a mark of gratitude and respect as Ian’s coffin was driven slowly past the College he loved so much on its way to his funeral in St Peter’s Cathedral. Details of his life and tributes to him are here and here.

Earlier that day several dozen students and staff marked Remembrance Day – a day on which we remember those who served and died in wars, conflicts or peace-keeping operations – with a simple ceremony around the Pond. The Head of College, Professor Don Markwell, drew attention to a nearby plaque “in memory of the youth of Australia” killed in World War I. The plaque had, some decades ago, hung in what is now the Junior Common Room in Downer House; it had since been removed from there, was recently found again, and has now been hung on the outer wall of the Grenfell Price Dining Hall near the Pond.

Exams have now ended for almost all our students, who await their academic results in early December.

We look back with gratitude and pride on all that our students have achieved and contributed in 2022, and we look forward with optimism to 2023. The College Club Committee is currently working hard on training and planning for next year, and we are buoyed also by the strongest enrolments in many years.

Congratulations again to the St Mark’s students of 2022, and best wishes for the summer ahead!

Photos by Emerson Fielke, Amelie Beltakis and others.

Posted on

Congratulations to our 2023 student leaders!

The College is delighted to announce the election and appointment of an impressive team of student leaders to serve the St Mark’s College community in 2023.

Members of the College Club Committee for 2023 were elected at the recent Final General Meeting of College students, and students have been appointed to other leadership roles following a rigorous application and selection process, including leadership training prior to application.

Our student leaders are vital to the life of the College. They assist in leading, fostering, and nurturing our College community, including through the provision of academic and wellbeing support to fellow students, organising sporting, cultural, social and service activities across the year, and much else besides.

Student leadership positions give students superb opportunities to develop their leadership and teamwork skills, and to undertake the community service that has been at the heart of the values and ethos of St Mark’s College since its founding in 1925. Experience in these roles also provides invaluable preparation for students’ lives and careers after College.

We are enormously grateful to all our students who are willing to serve the St Mark’s community in this way.

We would like to give a huge thank you to our outgoing student leaders, who have given so much to our community over the past year, and we congratulate the following student leaders for 2023:

Student Executive Team

The Student Executive Team comprises the College Club Executive (President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer), the two Assistant Deans, the Senior Academic Tutor, the Indigenous Student Advisor, the Senior Residential Advisor, and the President of the Charitable Foundation. It works closely with the Head of College, Dean, Director of Wellbeing, and Director of Learning on coordinating many aspects of College life, and promoting student welfare and success.

Top Left: Cass Joubert, Jasmyn Lloyd, Jord Howard, Miah Sherry, Libby Chisholm, Ben Ransom
Front Left: Cameron Akehurst, Tori Lowe, Sally Cassidy (Director of Wellbeing), Professor Jonathon Allen (Dean), Professor Don Markwell (Head of College), Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Ben McCure, Ella Browne

2023 College Club Committee

All resident students at St Mark’s are members of the College Club. Elected by their fellow students, the College Club Committee promotes student wellbeing and interests in diverse ways, including by organising an impressive line-up of events in partnership with other student leaders and the College staff. The College Club Executive consists of the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Top Left: Charlie Shepperd, Gemma Garraway, Luke Robertson, Hamish Napier, Manon Finch, Bianca Feher, William Gillett, Eloise Montefiore, Callum Saville
Front Left: Cass Joubert, Tori Lowe, Sally Cassidy (Director of Wellbeing), Professor Jonathon Allen (Dean), Professor Don Markwell (Head of College), Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Ben McCure, Ben Ransom

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S IN 2023
President* Ben McCure COOJAR, VIC USA Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing 3rd Year
Vice President* Tori Lowe RENMARK, SA USA Bachelor of Physiotherapy 3rd Year
Secretary* Cass Joubert JAMESTOWN, SA UA Bachelor of Business with a major in Digital Marketing and Communications 3rd Year
Treasurer* Ben Ransom MITCHAM, SA UA Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery 3rd Year
Female Sports Officer Manon Finch MOUNT GAMBIER, SA FL Bachelor of Health Sciences/Master of Physiotherapy 2nd Year
Male Sports Officer Luke Robertson HOBART, TAS USA Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science/Bachelor of Psychological Science 2nd Year
Female Social Officer Eloise Montefiore ALICE SPRINGS, NT USA Bachelor of Business 2nd Year
Male Social Officer Charlie Shepperd CUMMINS, SA USA Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) / Bachelor of Business (Finance) 2nd Year
Female Equity Officer Gemma Garraway MILDURA, VIC USA Bachelor of Social Work 3rd Year
Male Equity Officer Hamish Napier ALICE SPRINGS, NT USA Bachelor of Human Movement 2nd Year
Arts and Cultural Officer Bianca Feher GLOSSOP, SA USA Bachelor of Creative Industries (Pathway to Master of Communication) 2nd Year
Merchandise Officer Callum Saville ALICE SPRINGS, NT UA Bachelor of Business 2nd Year
Sponsorship/ Charitable Officer William Gillett LOXTON, SA USA Bachelor of Laws (Honours) / Bachelor of Business (Economics, Finance & Trade) 2nd Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Assistant Deans

The Assistant Deans work with the Dean and Director of Wellbeing, other staff, and students to ensure that St Mark’s provides a respectful, inclusive, and safe environment for all. The Assistant Deans assist students in various ways when needed, including liaising between staff and students, and help to ensure that the College’s values and expectations are upheld in student behaviour.

The Assistant Deans are senior leaders in the College, and assist the Dean, Director of Wellbeing, and Director of Learning in leading the Student Leadership Team (SLT).

Cameron Akehurst, Ella Browne

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Assistant Deans* Cameron Akehurst PORT LINCOLN, SA UA Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of International Business 4th Year
Ella Browne TAURANGA, NZ UA Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery 4th Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Residential Advisors (RAs)

Residential Advisors (RAs) are expected to show leadership in all aspects of College life, and to support actively the aims and ideals of St Mark’s College in promoting the wellbeing and academic success of its students. The primary function of an RA is to establish and maintain an environment which is safe, socially cohesive, welcoming and conducive to academic excellence. They are often the first point of contact for students’ issues and can advise on additional support structures within and beyond the College community.

The Residential Advisors and the Flat/Hawker House Wardens are led by a Senior Residential Advisor, who also serves on the Student Executive Team.

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Senior Residential Advisor* Miah Sherry FORTH, TAS UA Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery 4th Year
Residential Advisors Clare Jenkin DRUMBORG, SA UA Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences 3rd Year
Luke Marcus PENOLA, SA UA Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) / Bachelor of Arts 4th Year
Jack Monaco BARMERA, SA UA Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) 3rd Year
Kara Phillips LOXTON, SA USA Bachelor of Secondary Education (Honours) 4th Year
Jonty Pretorius LAUNCESTON, TAS UA Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Honours) / Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 3rd Year
Gracie Rowland CROWS NEST, NSW UA Bachelor of Music Theatre 3rd Year
Sinead Sidhu WAIKERIE, SA USA Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) 3rd Year
Mia Soebardi MILDURA, VIC UA Bachelor of Psychological Science 3rd Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Flat/Hawker House Wardens

As with RAs, the primary function of the Wardens is to establish and maintain in their area of responsibility an environment which is safe, socially cohesive, welcoming and conducive to academic excellence. Like RAs, Wardens also serve as Duty Tutors and Fire Wardens for the full year.

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Wardens Libby Chisholm ADELAIDE, SA UA Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery 3rd Year
Erin Hughes LOXTON, SA FL Bachelor of Human Nutrition / Bachelor of Exercise Science 3rd Year
Hamish McKenny WILD DOG VALLEY (NARACOORTE), SA UA Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Architectural and Structural) 3rd Year
Tyra Spirat WHYALLA, SA USA Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) 3rd Year

Top Left: Gracie Rowland, Tyra Spirat, Sinead Sidhu, Clare Jenkin, Erin Hughes, Jonty Pretorius, Kara Phillips, Hamish McKenny, Despina Eleftheriadis, Libby Chisholm, Luke Marcus

Front Left: Jasmyn Lloyd, Ella Browne, Sally Cassidy (Director of Wellbeing), Professor Jonathon Allen (Dean), Professor Don Markwell (Head of College), Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Cameron Akehurst, Miah Sherry
Absent: Jack Monaco, Mia Soebardi

Senior Academic Tutor

The role of the Senior Academic Tutor (SAT) is to assist students in the positive transition from school to university life, and provide support to ensure academic success and resilience. Working closely with the Director of Learning, the Senior Academic Tutor’s portfolio includes coordinating the Academic Coordinators, providing administrative support for the Tutorial Program, and ensuring all students are aware of and able to access the academic support at the College.

Academic Coordinators

The role of each Academic Coordinator is to support the Director of Learning and Senior Academic Tutor to help ensure all students attain their academic goals and fulfil their potential, and to improve the accessibility, relevance and quality of academic and career development opportunities for all students. St Mark’s College students in related degrees are grouped by Faculty, and each Faculty has an Academic Coordinator. For 2023, the six Faculties will be: (1) Agriculture, Viticulture, Veterinary and Animal Science; (2) Arts and Education; (3) Business and Law; (4) Engineering, Physical Sciences, Architecture, and Aviation; (5) Health & Medical Sciences and Allied Health; and (6) Medicine, Nursing, and Dentistry.

Top Left: Jana Badran, Josh Rummell, Oliver Leslie
Front Left: Holly Boswell, Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Jord Howard
Absent: Maddie Dodds, Anthony Doll

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Senior Academic Tutor* Jord Howard JUNORTOUN, VIC UA Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Honours) 4th Year
Academic Coordinators
Agriculture, Viticulture, Veterinary and Animal Science Maddie Dodds BALLARAT, VIC UA Bachelor of Veterinary Bioscience / Doctor of Vet Medicine 2nd Year
Arts and Education Anthony Doll MOUNT GAMBIER, SA USA Bachelor of Primary Education (Honours) 4th Year
Business and Law Holly Boswell LONGUEVILLE, NSW UA Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Health and Medical Science (Advanced) 3rd Year
Engineering, Physical Sciences, Architecture, and Aviation Josh Rummell EAST TOOWOOMBA, QLD UA Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (Advanced) 3rd Year
Health & Medical Sciences and Allied Health Jana Badran BERRI, SA UA Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) 3rd Year
Medicine, Nursing, and Dentistry Oliver Leslie SYDNEY, NSW UA Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery 3rd Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Indigenous Student Advisor

The Indigenous Student Advisor (ISA) provides pastoral care and support to all current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Working closely with the Dean, Director of Wellbeing, Director of Learning, and Registrar, the ISA also acts as representative for current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, assisting in the recruitment to College of future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, maintaining relationships with local Elders and with relevant university support services, and assisting in the organisation of events that celebrate Indigenous culture and history.

Jasmyn Lloyd

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Indigenous Student Advisor* Jasmyn Lloyd OLD CALPERUM, SA UA Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery 3rd Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Charitable Foundation Executive

Community service is at the heart of the ideals and values for which St Mark’s stands. Many of the community service activities undertaken by the students of St Mark’s College – including volunteering and fundraising activities for charities – are led through the Charitable Foundation. Its Executive members are its President, Secretary, and Treasurer.


Lucy Page, Libby Chisholm, Kellie Lessue

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
President Libby Chisolm ADELAIDE, SA UA Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery 3rd Year
Secretary Kellie Lessue PORT LINCOLN, SA UA Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of International Relations 2nd Year
Treasurer Lucy Page PERTH, WA UA Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) / Bachelor of Applied Data Analytics (Economics) 2nd Year

*Student Executive Team member.

Library Assistants
The Library Assistants work collaboratively with the Librarian to ensure the effective running of the Academic Centre and Learning Commons, including ensuring students are utilising the Academic Centre and Learning Commons in a respectful and enjoyable manner.

Ruby Ford, Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Tori Rehn

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Library Assistants Tori Rehn BYRON BAY, NSW USA Bachelor of Primary Education (Honours) 2nd Year
Ruby Ford PORT LINCOLN, SA UA Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) 2nd Year

Music Room Curator

The Music Room Curator takes responsibility for the safe and enjoyable use of the music facilities at College, in particular maintaining the Music Room to a high standard.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Music Room Curator Harriet McPharlin COLLEGE PARK, SA UA Bachelor of Teaching / Bachelor of Arts 2nd Year

Gym Curator
The Gym Curator takes responsibility for the safe and enjoyable use of the gym facilities at College.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Gym Curator Lauren Mellett BUNBURY, WA UA Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine 2nd Year

Lauren Mellett, Harriet McPharlin

Lion Editor

The role of the Lion Editors is to produce and edit the annual College magazine, The Lion, the official and public record of the year’s events at St Mark’s. The Lion was first published in 1948. Prior to 1948, College achievements and events had been recorded in the St Mark’s College Record since the College’s founding in 1925.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Lion Editor Emerson Fielke LOXTON, SA USA Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) 3rd Year
Amelie Beltakis MOUNT GAMBIER, SA UA Bachelor of Science (Plant Biology) / Diploma of Languages (Japanese) 3rd Year

Student Outreach Officer

The role of the Student Outreach Officer is to assist the Registrar in promoting the College to prospective students, including through on-site tours, promotional events (e.g. Open Days), school visits (both inbound and outbound), career expos, field days and webinars.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Student Outreach Officer Bianca Feher GLOSSOP, SA USA Bachelor of Creative Industries (Pathway to Master of Communication) 2nd Year

Photographer & Social Media Content Creator

The role of the Photographer & Social Media Content Creator (‘Photographer’) is to assist the Registrar and others in documenting the life of the College and promoting the College through the production of appropriate social media marketing materials.

POSITION NAME HOMETOWN UNIVERSITY AND COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S IN 2022
Photographer & Social Media content creator Amelie Beltakis COMPTON, SA UA Bachelor of Science (Plant Biology) / Diploma of Languages (Japanese) 3rd Year

Film Maker

The role of the Film Maker is to assist the Registrar and others in promoting the College through the production of appropriate video content that showcases College life.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Film maker Mia McEachern GRASSMERE, VIC USA Bachelor of Film and Television 3rd Year

Harriet McPharlin, Amelie Beltakis, Bianca Feher, Mia McEachern, Emerson Fielke

Additional Duty Tutors

The primary function of the Duty Tutor is to conduct regular checks of the College in the evening and on weekends, and to ensure that any incidents are reported to the designated Assistant Dean and logged on the Duty Tutor shift sheet. Students in various leadership positions undertake Duty Tutor responsibilities, and additional Duty Tutors are also appointed.

POSITION NAMES HOMETOWN COURSE YEAR AT ST MARK’S
Additional Duty Tutors Alice Alexander WORROLONG, SA UA Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences 2nd Year
Natalie Fitzpatrick BALLARAT, VIC UA Bachelor of Languages 2nd Year
Will Hutchings IVANHOE, VIC UA Bachelor of Psychological Science 2nd Year
Emma Mattiske LONGLEA, VIC UA Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences (Advanced) 2nd Year
Eloise Montefiore ALICE SPRINGS, NT USA Bachelor of Business 2nd Year
Liam Phillips LOXTON, SA USA Bachelor of Science (Chemistry, Biology) 2nd Year
Courtney Vonk WHYALLA STUART, SA USA Bachelor of Psychology 3rd Year
Amelie Beltakis MOUNT GAMBIER, SA UA Bachelor of Science (Plant Biology) / Diploma of Languages (Japanese) 3rd Year

2023 Student Leaders
Top Left: Gracie Rowland, Courtney Vonk, Amelie Beltakis, Clare Jenkin, William Gillett, Charlie Shepperd, Liam Phillips, Oliver Leslie, Hamish Napier, Luke Robertson, Josh Rummell, Hamish McKenny, Callum Saville, Luke Marcus, Will Hutchings, Jonty Pretorius
Middle Left: Jana Badran, Bianca Feher, Emma Mattiske, Tyra Spirat, Sinead Sidhu, Ruby Ford, Erin Hughes, Lucy Page, Alice Alexander, Tori Rehn, Manon Finch, Holly Boswell, Kara Phillips, Despina Eleftheriadis, Gemma Garraway, Harriet McPharlin, Lauren Mellett, Eloise Montefiore, Emerson Fielke
Front Left: Tori Lowe, Ben Ransom, Cass Joubert, Ella Browne, Sally Cassidy (Director of Wellbeing), Professor Jonathon Allen (Dean), Professor Don Markwell (Head of College), Ben McCure, Dr Katrina Stats (Director of Learning), Jord Howard, Cameron Akehurst, Libby Chisholm, Jasmyn Lloyd, Miah Sherry
Absent: Maddie Dodds, Anthony Doll, Natalie Fitzpatrick, Emma Mattiske, Mia McEachern, Jack Monaco, Kellie Lessue, Mia Soebardi

Photos by Emerson Fielke and Kathy Radoslovich

Posted on

Tributes to Ian Baker Wall AM

DR IAN BAKER WALL AM 

15 May 1931 – 26 October 2022

A service in celebration of the life of Dr Ian Baker Wall AM

was held in St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide,

on Friday 11 November 2022, followed by a reception at St Mark’s College,

 The service may be viewed here.

The Order of Service is here.

The eulogy by Hon. Steven Marshall MP is here.

The eulogy by Professor Don Markwell, Head of St Mark’s College, is here.

The homily, given by the Most Rev’d Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate of Australia, is here.

St Mark’s College deeply mourns the passing of our Honorary Fellow and Governor of the College Foundation, Ian Baker Wall AM.

Ian was a student at St Mark’s from 1950 to 1954. Grateful for what St Mark’s contributed to his life, he became the largest donor to the College in its history.

We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs Pamela Wall OAM, and to their daughter, Annabel Wall. The flags at the College are flying at half-mast as a mark of respect.

We remember Ian with profound admiration, gratitude, and love.

Below are a collection of messages in memory of Ian. If you would like to leave a message, please submit it here.

For the College’s tribute to Ian, please click here.

“Ian and Pam Wall’s company was a treasured part of my connection with StOrder of Service for funeral of Dr Ian Wall AM 11 November 2022 FINALOrder of Service for funeral of Dr Ian Wall AM 11 November 2022 FINAL Mark’s College. Ian will be greatly missed by all those who came in contact with him. Vale a generous and gracious man.” – Angela Bannon

“I’m deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Ian Wall AM. My St Mark’s College experience was richer because of Ian and Pamela’s significant contributions to the College over many years. I was able to thrive because of the first-class facilities that simply wouldn’t be available without their commitment. He made a significant contribution to so many students lives and I couldn’t be more grateful. May Ian Rest in Peace. Thinking of Ian’s family during this time.” – Benjamin Jenner

“Thank you for your kindness and generosity.”  – Steve Mason

“With deepest sympathy and much love to Pam and the family. Many happy occasions shared at St Mark’s functions since the 1950s. From Mary and Jack.” – Jack Brady & Mary McLeod

“Dear Pammie and Annabel, As a proud student of St Mark’s myself, I appreciate the profound impact that College life can have on a person. A student with whom I was at College said to me, “I am now a successful financier in Sydney. As a son of a Murray Bridge abattoir worker and the only one of my family ever to have been to University, if it hadn’t been for St Mark’s I never would have made it. I was in tears as he said it. As the Chair of the College Foundation, I appreciate the pleasure of giving back to the College. Ian and you have given so very generously, you have had a wonderful impact on countless St Mark’s students and we will be forever grateful. My heartfelt thanks and sincere condolences, James.” – James Price

“Ian Wall was an exemplary person who will be dearly missed by the St Mark’s community. He was a role model of the highest calibre. At university, he was conscientious and dedicated to his studies. In the working world, he co-founded Codan: one of South Australia’s largest companies with world-leading technical capability. In later life, he was uniquely generous with sharing the fruits of financial successes with a wide variety of charitable and non-for-profit organisations. The benefactions of Ian and Pamela Wall have significantly bettered the education of generations of collegians at St Mark’s College. Vale Ian Wall: the community will miss you.” – Alexander Makarowsky

“Ian was one of the nicest men that anyone could know. He was so generous and caring and I have lovely memories of him. My sincere condolences to Pam and Annabel.” – Jan Sim

“To Mrs Pamela Wall OAM and daughter Annabel Our family would like to extend their deepest sympathy and condolences to you on the passing of your husband and father, Mr Ian Wall AM. Our children have reaped the benefits of Mr Wall’s kind and generous support to St Marks College and we would like to acknowledge his legacy. May Mr Wall Rest In Peace.” – Montefiore family, Alice Springs

“Deeply saddened to learn of Ian’s passing. Heartfelt sympathy to Pam and family. A true gentleman and generous benefactor whose influence will be long celebrated.” – Jane Doyle OAM and Ian Doyle OAM

“Such sad news, what a wonderful and inspiring man. I have known Pam and Ian for many years and most recently of the Adelaide Club. I have a very hollow heart today after hearing the news.” – George Randle

“Ian was a kind and humble man, always with time to listen and chat. I appreciated the conversations I had with Ian and Pammie. In fact I looked forward to our chats when they attended special occasions at the College. I was amazed by their generosity to St Mark’s and to other places too. It was obviously done from a grateful heart and that’s a characteristic God values. You might have passed over the horizon of this life Ian, but as Jesus once said, we are ALWAYS alive to God so I look forward to our next chat in the hereafter. With admiration, Grant Moore.” – Rev’d Grant Moore

“Prof” (as Ian was known during his College years) attended College at the same time as my late husband, Richard Hancock. “Prof” was known as the academic one, while Richard was known as the sporty one!  Ian will be fondly remembered as a vibrant and very generous man.  My most heartfelt condolences go to Pammie and Annabel. – Mrs Diana Hancock

“Ian was a wonderful man, kind, generous and brilliant, and was a wonderful supporter of St Mark’s College. He will be missed.” – Darren Pitt

“A very kind, knowledgeable and generous gentleman who was very special. Always remembered.” – Sophia & Stephen Finos

“Always a friendly nod as alumni. Most bonding was the generations of Codan HF radios that equipped our yachts that provided ever reliable service. Thanks Ian, always remembered.” – Ant and Mary Lou Simpson

“Without the remarkable generosity of Ian Wall I wouldn’t be living in the amazing East Wing building and I wouldn’t have made so many lifelong memories in the library and the flats. I am forever grateful for my experience at St Marks College and Ian’s contribution to this. May he rest peacefully.” – Eliza Lee

Posted on

St Mark’s College remembers Ian Baker Wall AM with profound admiration, gratitude, and love

DR IAN BAKER WALL AM 

15 May 1931 – 26 October 2022

A service in celebration of the life of Dr Ian Baker Wall AM

was held in St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide,

on Friday 11 November 2022, followed by a reception at St Mark’s College,

 The service may be viewed here.

The Order of Service is here.

The eulogy by Hon. Steven Marshall MP is here.

The eulogy by Professor Don Markwell, Head of St Mark’s College, is here.

The homily, given by the Most Rev’d Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate of Australia, is here.

The St Mark’s College community deeply mourns the passing of Ian Baker Wall AM (15 May 1931 – 26 October 2022).

Ian Wall was a student at St Mark’s from 1950 to 1954, the largest donor to the College in its history, an Honorary Fellow of the College, and a Governor of the College Foundation. His joint portrait with his wife, Pamela Wall OAM, hangs in our dining hall, an expression of gratitude for their immense contribution to the College.

A brilliantly successful engineer and businessman, Ian Wall was the co-founder of the international electronics company Codan, and became, with Pammie Wall, an extraordinarily generous supporter of many institutions, organisations and causes in South Australia.

We have extended our deepest sympathy to Pammie Wall, and to their daughter, Annabel Wall, on Ian’s passing. Our hearts go out to them at this sad time.

The flags at the College are flying at half-mast as a mark of respect.

A service to celebrate Ian’s life will be held in St Peter’s Cathedral, 27 King William Rd, North Adelaide, on Friday 11 November 2022 at 2 pm. The service will be followed by a reception at St Mark’s College. All are welcome. The service may also be viewed here.

The following tribute to Ian is adapted from the Head of College’s speech at the unveiling of Ian and Pamela Wall’s portrait at St Mark’s last year:

In the history of this College, no one has been more generous to St Mark’s than Ian and Pamela Wall.

Theirs is a uniquely special place in the current life and in the history of this College, just as theirs is a very special place in the South Australian community, to which they have contributed so much, both through the development of a remarkable and innovative international business based in Adelaide, and through their extraordinary and unassuming generosity to so many good causes.

In 2008, Ian was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia for “service to business, particularly through the design and manufacture of electronic communication equipment, and to the community through philanthropic activities”. In 2019, he was further honoured “for significant service to the community through philanthropic initiatives”, becoming a Member of the Order of Australia.

In his speech on his election as an Honorary Fellow of St Mark’s in 2008, Ian described himself as the “only child of parents of modest means [his father was a Master Butcher in suburban Adelaide] who wanted the best opportunity in life for their son”. Growing up, Ian had always been – as he once put it – “interested in how things worked, electrical things, about dismantling them and putting them together again”. And so by the age of 13 or 14, perhaps younger, he was set on becoming an engineer.

Ian was a student at Pulteney Grammar, did intermediate physics and chemistry at the School of Mines and Industries, and then completed his secondary education at St Peter’s College. His application form for entry to St Mark’s in 1950 says that he participated at Saints in the Science Society, of which he was Secretary in 1949, and in the Automotive Society.

Ian came into residence as an undergraduate student at St Mark’s in 1950, and as he later said, “my life was really centred around St Mark’s for [nearly] five years”.

An editorial note in the College magazine, The Lion, of Ian’s first year described The Lion as enabling Collegians “to watch ourselves in retrospect, a company of young men marching slowly to meet the life that lies ahead”. The references to Ian in The Lion each year enable us to see him as a young man moving quite rapidly to make the life that lay ahead.

In each of the years that Ian was a resident student at St Mark’s, The Lion records aspects of his life here – his progress through his degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Adelaide, including his being recommended for the Electricity Trust Prize in 1954; his participation in the University Squadron; his service for three consecutive years on the College Club Committee, including in 1954 as Treasurer; his role in the student escapade in the Adelaide Hills known as Alpine Day, including in one year his making “a lightning detour home” to collect “a large quantity of chops and steaks” to rescue the Alpiners from the grim prospect of spaghetti and saveloys; his being thanked for “handling … the backstage and technical arrangements” for the College Revue; and more.

Along the way, Ian had become a well-regarded College identity with the affectionate nickname “Prof”. In many of the references to him in The Lion, he is simply referred to as “Prof” or “Proff”.

The Lion both in 1951 and 1952 had a column called “Table Talk” which purported to record conversations over a College meal. In the 1952 Table Talk spoof conversation, “Proff Wall” declares what he calls “some strictly high-frequency stuff”. He says: “If its feed-backs, camshafts, differentials, piston rings, or distributors you’re enquiring about, just come to old Proff Wall. Yeah, that’s me. With mechanics I’m dynamite…” Never a truer word spoken!

Later in the spoof scene, Proff Wall “leaps from the dining hall into a high-powered sports car, and within a split second the only trace is a line of recumbent pedestrians reaching to infinity.”

In his Report for the 1954 Lion, the President of the College Club, Michael Hobbs, expressed thanks to members of the Club Committee, in which Ian was Treasurer, for “the efficient manner in which they performed their various tasks”. The Club President wrote: “I would like to pay particular tribute to Prof. Wall, who moved as facilely within the complexities of the treasurership as he does within those of a ten-valve high frequency amplifier…” Is it any surprise that within five years Ian and his co-founders were to create what became Codan, the hugely and globally successful electronics company?

The Club President’s Report in The Lion of 1954 also recorded: “It was with regret that we received Prof’s resignation from the College Club at the end of the second term…” The reason is not hard to find – because the same edition of The Lion recorded the happy news of the marriage later in the year of “Prof. Wall” to Pam Hogon. This August, Ian and Pammie celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary.

Pammie had been a student at what is now St Peter’s Woodlands Grammar School, and when Ian first met her she was working at the National Bank as a Ledger Keeper before starting nursing at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Ian and Pammie’s has been a brilliant partnership. Ian has spoken of Pammie supporting him “in every endeavour” throughout their married life (which includes her serving for some 20 years on the Board of Codan). So much of what they have done, including their philanthropy, has been done together, as a team.

It is for this reason that the College’s Library is called the Ian and Pamela Wall Academic Centre. They are jointly Governors of the College Foundation. And it is very fitting that the magnificent portrait of them in the College dining hall, by Tsering Hannaford, is a joint portrait – just as Robert Hannaford’s very different portrait at Carrick Hill is a joint portrait.

In an oral history interview for the College in 2013, Ian spoke of his years in College. He spoke of how College life developed his social skills: having grown up as an only child, he was now interacting more than ever before with other young people, and developing a much more extensive social life. He spoke also of the lively discussions with a broad mix of fellow Collegians, including in those days many Western Australian medical students and Colombo Plan students from Asian countries; other student activities; the wise counsel and guidance of the Master, Archie Price, and the Vice-Master, Bob Lewis; the tutorial system, including the tutorial support in mathematics of Dr Mary Harding, Principal of St Ann’s; the pastoral care; the interesting guest speakers – what Ian called “the total experience”.

Ian said that his years at St Mark’s gave him “good preparation for the things that I needed to do in my adult life”, and that without St Mark’s, he would not have had the success that he has had.

Ian also said that his parents “had a great belief in the University College concept of education” and so had made it possible for him to attend St Mark’s. Could there be a better vindication of “the University College concept of education”, or of parents creating educational opportunities for their child?

One particularly important conversation for Ian was with his Saint’s and later St Mark’s College friend, Dick Brown, who at St Mark’s was studying mechanical engineering while Ian was studying electrical engineering. As Ian recounts it, one day Dick Brown said to him: “Ian, I think you ought to have a yarn with Alistair Wood”.

Ian replied: “Yes, Dick, why would I want to do that?” to which Dick Brown replied: “I think you’ve got a lot in common”.

Perhaps somewhat sceptically, Ian did have a yarn with Alistair Wood, and did find a lot in common. Together they went on to make scientific equipment for the physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering departments. The friendship formed at that stage led Ian, Alastair, and a third friend, Jim Bettison, together in 1959 to start the company that became Codan. One of Codan’s two principal design engineers in its early decades, Ian retired from its Board in 2009, after 50 years’ service as an innovative engineer and a clear-minded businessman.

It has been authoritatively said that Ian and his co-founder Alastair Wood “demonstrated exceptional engineering skill by personally developing the exceptional high frequency (HF) radio technology and products that were the cornerstone of the success of the Codan business, and which over decades have provided such important assistance to many people worldwide”.

As well as in remote Australia, “Codan’s products are used worldwide by most UN, NGO and other humanitarian and aid agencies, and by government and many private organisations”, and Codan has received a number of awards for export achievement, innovation, and manufacturing.

On his election as a Fellow of the College in 2008, Ian said:

“When I look back, I see that I owe much of my success to my years in residence at St Mark’s and the wise counsel of Archie Price and Bob Lewis just as students in later times have received from the College and the several Masters who followed on.

“I firmly believe that the future of our children, grandchildren and, indeed, society itself will depend on the leadership of well educated citizens. That is why I am a strong supporter of St Mark’s and other institutions of learning.”

Ian has also spoken of his feeling “almost a duty that you should reinforce the opportunity for those who are to follow in your steps”.

It is no secret that Ian and Pammie’s support has been indispensable to the completion of the flats in the north-west corner of the College, one block of which is known – in gratitude to both Ian and Pammie – as “Wall”; the East Wing, which includes the gym, the Ian and Pamela Wall Academic Centre, and two levels of excellent student accommodation; and the secure multi-storey car-park, including in 2020 the addition of new levels to the carpark, taking our car parking capacity to a remarkable 160 spaces – a great amenity for our students, providing safe parking off the street.

We could not be more grateful for this, and for Ian’s support, with Pammie, in so many other ways over the years – for the Library, the gym, computer connections, the Gas Truck, the Downer House lift, and scholarships, which are a central focus for the College today – in Ian’s words, to “reinforce the opportunity for those who are to follow in your steps”.

Ian and Pammie’s exceptional contribution to St Mark’s, along with their outstanding support for so many other institutions and organisations, featured prominently in the citations read in a special bedside ceremony in Ian’s hospital room on Monday 24 October, when both Ian and Pammie were presented with honorary doctorates by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide.

Ian Wall’s contribution to St Mark’s College will endure in perpetuity.

We remember him with profound admiration, gratitude, and love.

May he Rest in Peace and rise in glory.

There are tributes to Ian here.

 

 

 

Posted on

Congratulations on winning the High Table Cup!

Many congratulations to all the St Mark’s teams whose efforts this year have contributed to the College winning the Douglas-Irving Cup, also known as the High Table Cup.

The results throughout the year were:

Tennis – 1st
Swimming – 1st
Women’s Netball – 2nd
Men’s Netball – 3rd
Debating – 2nd
Women’s Football – 2nd
Men’s Football – 3rd
Women’s Hockey – 3rd
Men’s Hockey – 1st
Women’s Basketball – 1st
Men’s Basketball – 4th
Volleyball – 2nd
Women’s Soccer – 1st
Men’s Soccer – 3rd
Table Tennis – 1st
Athletics – 2nd (equal)

A great effort by all our teams!

Many thanks to the coaches, captains, and officials, and to our Sports Officers – and to all the spectators who helped to cheer our teams along.

Photos by Emerson Fielke, Amelie Beltakis and others

 

Posted on

Release of Catharine Lumby Report: “a gold standard approach”

The College has this week received a Report from Professor Catharine Lumby on what we do and what we can do better to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct, and the College Board has announced its commitment to implementing all of the Report’s recommendations.

As reported in May 2022, St Mark’s commissioned Professor Lumby, from the University of Sydney, to undertake an independent expert review of what we do to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault from taking place within our College community, and how we respond when misconduct does occur.

Professor Lumby is one of the leading experts in this field, and has worked with Australian organisations including the National Rugby League, Google, Channel Ten, David Jones, Endemol Shine, and the Australian Defence Force.

Over the past five months Professor Lumby has undertaken extensive qualitative and quantitative research at St Mark’s, including focus group meetings with students, participation in a Student Leadership Retreat, administration of a comprehensive survey of students, multiple discussions with the Head of College, Professor Don Markwell, and consultations with senior staff. Professor Lumby has also reviewed relevant policies and other written materials. The Report received this week is the summary of the findings from that process.

The Report gives a very positive assessment of the College’s approach. Professor Lumby writes in the Executive Summary that

In terms of best practice, the College takes a gold standard approach to policy, practice, education, evaluation and to ensuring complaints are dealt with in a sensitive manner which respects due process. The commissioning of this Review further demonstrates the commitment of the College to ongoing evaluation and transparency.

Alongside this strong endorsement of the College’s approach, Professor Lumby provides a series of Recommendations which suggest changes that we can make to strengthen our practices further.

These Recommendations include ensuring that our policies are as straightforward and user-friendly as possible and continue to be reviewed on an annual basis; reviewing training and support provided to College staff; considering how best to communicate consequences of misconduct to the student community; and continuing to develop our training program for students in light of findings from the survey data.

The Chair of the Board, Ms Linda Mathews, warmly welcomed the Report and its Recommendations. She said that

Our foremost priority is the safety and wellbeing of our students, and Professor Lumby’s Report makes clear that our current approach is one which is proactive and informed. However we recognise that there is more that we can do, and we look forward to implementing in full the various Recommendations made in the Report.

The Report can be read in full at this link.

The most recent update on the College’s work on cultural renewal and upholding our values can be found here.

The College thanks all students who participated in the review by Professor Lumby.

Posted on

Experienced student counsellor Sally Cassidy appointed Director of Wellbeing

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Sally Cassidy as Director of Wellbeing at St Mark’s College. Sally has worked for the past 7 years as Student Counsellor (Complex Cases) at the University of Adelaide’s Counselling Support service, where she has recently served as Acting Team Manager. We are very much looking forward to her joining the St Mark’s community.

Sally will succeed Mr Stuart Meldrum, our inaugural Director of Wellbeing, who is moving to Melbourne with his wife Sarah and their son Harry for family reasons in December. Stuart will become Director of Student Life at Queen’s College in the University of Melbourne.

The Director of Wellbeing at St Mark’s provides support to students, including helping students to access external mental health care when needed. The role also focuses on bringing a proactive approach to wellbeing by helping students and staff develop knowledge and skills, including resilience, that promote their wellbeing and help them to thrive and flourish.

The need for such a role has grown significantly in recent years, including with the impact of the pandemic. The position of Director of Wellbeing was created as part of a major expansion of student support at St Mark’s a year ago.

Sally Cassidy will start at the College on 28 November, enabling a week’s handover from Stuart and allowing her to work with our College Club Committee on training and planning for 2023.

She and her husband, Rohan, and their two children will live on-site in Walkley Cottage from mid-December – along with their white fluffy Samoyed named Hachi.

Sally brings with her a wealth of experience which is highly relevant to the role here at St Mark’s. She has worked as a social worker for nearly 20 years, specialising in mental health, including as a Student Counsellor for complex cases at the University of Adelaide’s Counselling Support since 2015.

Previous roles include working as a social worker for Disability SA and as a support worker for Youthlink (a support service for disadvantaged young people), and from 2004 to 2012 she worked in mental health care in London as a registered social worker.

Sally graduated from Flinders University with a BA (Legal Studies and Politics) before completing a Bachelor of Social Work at Flinders. She has postgraduate qualifications in social work practice and advanced mental health practice from universities in the United Kingdom.

A Mental Health First Aid trainer since 2017, Sally has extensive experience in developing and delivering training programs. She is a member of the Wellbeing Champion Network at the University of Adelaide, and a founding member of South Australia’s first Tertiary Suicide Prevention Advisory Group.

Her volunteer roles include being event director and run director for Largs Bay parkrun, and food and wine coordinator for Bayettes Beefsteak and Burgundy Club.

Sally Cassidy was selected as Director of Wellbeing from an exceptionally strong field of candidates.

Those who met her during the selection process – student leaders, as well as a selection panel of staff and Board members – commented on how warm and approachable she is, her passion for wellbeing, and her highly relevant experience in engaging with and supporting university students.

“I am excited at the opportunity to join the St Mark’s community, and look forward to getting to know every student in the College, and doing all I can to help them thrive”, Sally said.

We look forward to warmly welcoming Sally and her family to the College.