I am pleased to announce that Dr Don Markwell is to be the next Head of St Mark’s College, Adelaide.
Dr Markwell is the current Warden of St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney and former global head of the Rhodes Scholarships. We are delighted to attract such an internationally recognised educational leader to lead St Mark’s in the next stage of its development.
Don Markwell has a proven and effective commitment to collegiate education, to working with students to ensure the best possible student experience, to improving opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds, and to leading cultural renewal to promote gender equality and cultural diversity.
His decades of college experience in Australia, Britain, and the United States will be of immense value to St Mark’s as we build on our existing strengths and enter a positive new phase for the College.
Dr Markwell will commence at St Mark’s on 1 November 2019. He will succeed Ms Rose Alwyn, who has served as Master of the College since 2008, and who was recently appointed Warden of St John’s College within the University of Queensland.
To ensure that all students at St Mark’s College have the best possible collegiate educational experience, Dr Markwell will continue the important work of cultural renewal commenced with Rose Alwyn.
As Warden of St Paul’s College at a transformational period in its history, Dr Markwell has led the development and implementation of its Action Plan for Cultural Renewal in response to the Broderick Report on the College’s culture.
Born in Quilpie, outback Queensland Don studied at the University of Queensland and was the 1981 Rhodes Scholar for Queensland at the University of Oxford. He continued his education at Princeton University in the United States.
Dr Markwell was the first Rhodes Scholar to be Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford (2009-12), which is responsible for Rhodes Scholarships globally. He had previously served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) of the University of Western Australia (2007-09), Warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne (1997-2007), and Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Merton College, Oxford (1986-97).
Dr Markwell has also served as Senior Adviser on Higher Education to the Federal Minister for Education (2013-15), and Senior Adviser to the Attorney-General and Leader of the Government in the Senate (2015-17).
He worked closely with former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on the development of the New Colombo Plan, which supports Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the Indo-Pacific region.
A political scientist, Dr Markwell’s publications include several books on international relations, constitutions and other political issues, higher education, and leadership.
Dr Markwell has been an active Anglican layperson for many years, including serving as a Lay Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, and St George’s Cathedral in Perth.
I know that you will make Don welcome and he is very much looking forward to working with the students, staff, Board, alumni and friends of St Mark’s College to offer the students a broadening and life-changing collegiate education within a respectful, inclusive and safe environment.
Linda Matthews
Chair
St Mark’s College
