Classnotes

More classnotes can be found on the Alumni News website.

1960s

Brother Michael Lynch (BEc 1964, DipEd 1966, BEd 1973) holds a place in Monash's history as the first graduand to receive his testamur at Monash University's first graduation ceremony, held in April 1964. Brother Lynch has recently returned to Melbourne from his 10th visit to East Timor in four years, where he is active in delivering education and food programs via the Salesian Mission Office. Twins David Phillips (BA 1969, DipEd 1970, BEdSt 1990) and Peter Phillips (BA 1969, DipEd 1970) have retired after a combined total of more than 70 years' service teaching geography in Victorian state secondary schools.

1970s

Frank Armer (LLM 1976, EdD 1998) has been appointed adjunct professor (Ethics) at Swinburne University. In addition to his work for the New South Wales Treasury, Pete Bannister (BEc 1970) recently led a project team to China as part of an AusAid Capacity Building program. A change of pace for retiree Alan Morgan (DipMicro 1975), who has moved to the east coast of Tasmania to open a B&B. Also recently retired, Gintautas Kaminskas (MA 1973) has left the Australian Public Service and is now working as a freelance translator in Montreal, Quebec. Joe Johnson's (BA 1975, MA 1984) long-term involvement with Antarctica earned him the Australian Antarctic Medal (AAM) in 2001 and more recently, the position of chair of the Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee.

1980s

Clifford Wilding (formerly Williams) (BSc 1982) recently started his own IT consultancy in Sydney. Andreas Nataatmadja (PhD Eng 1989) has joined Queensland University of Technology as a senior lecturer in geotechnical and pavement engineering. Meanwhile, Bernd Neubauer (BEc 1986) has been appointed CEO of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Brisbane. Kee Sze Ping (BEc 1981, LLB 1983) is managing partner of the legal firm Manjit Singh Sachdev, Mohd Radzi & Partners, Advocates & Solicitors, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. A new appointment for Ruwantissa Abeyratne (LLM 1982), who is now professor of aviation law and policy at Concordia University, Canada. Continuing his career in education, Uzir Ali (BA 1985) is teaching English to secondary students in Indonesia.

1990s

Karina Craig (BA (Hons) 1998) earned a degree in forensic archaeology and is now employed by Surrey Police as a crime scene examiner in the UK. Claire Harris (BA/LLB(Hons) 1996) has returned from working as a prosecution lawyer at the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague and will soon commence practice as a barrister. Apollonia Tiliti (BCom 1997) is working as a finance officer for the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After completing a doctorate in astrophysics at Cambridge, Jarrod Hurley (BSc(Hons) 1996) is now working as a Hubble Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History. Also living in the US, Paul Chin (BCom 1995) is currently principal investment relationship manager with Barclays Global Investors. Former palaeoecologist Katharine Harle (MLib 1990, PhD Arts 2000) has moved to Canberra to take up a position as climate change analyst with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems. Further north, Maria Zissimos (BSc (Hons) 1991, MSc 1997) is undertaking scientific research with the Genetic Epidemiology Unit at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, while husband Peter Toscas (BA(Hons) 1989, MSc 1993) is working for CSIRO. In Melbourne, Marc Wigan (MBA 1993, MA 1994) has been appointed honorary professorial fellow at Melbourne University in civil and environmental engineering. For her innovative approach to marketing, Julie Weste (MBA 1999) this year won the 'Highly Commended' award in the Women in Business category of the Solutions Management Small Business Marketing awards. Psychologist Jeffrey Broughton (GradDipEdPsych 1999) is working with Community Corrections (Department of Justice) in Bendigo. Fourteen years' service with the Northern Territory Police Force sees Steve Edgington (BA(PoliceSt) 1999) promoted to the rank of superintendent. Enjoying his career in the "challenging and exciting area of Indigenous affairs" is Anthony Galante (MA 1998), who has taken on a new role as regional manager for the WA Department of Indigenous Affairs in Albany. Herman Mouthaan (MEnvSci 1990) now calls the "the whole of Australia home" after retiring and selling everything to travel and put his training to use in the remote regions of Australia. Jonathan Tisher (BSc(Hons) 1996, LLB 1999) has become an associate for Melbourne law firm Tisher Liner & Co, while Simon Abraham (BEc 1993, LLB 1995) has become partner of the same firm. Ken McAlpine (BA 1997, LLB 1998) has made a jump from law to politics and has recently taken on the role of chief of staff to the Victorian Minister for Energy, Industries and Resources. Luis Sanchez-Cunat (PhDArts 1999) has been appointed honorary consul of the Republic of Ecuador, based in Adelaide with jurisdiction in South Australia.

2000s

A pioneer graduate of the Bachelor of Nursing conversion degree in PNG, George Taudemo (BNurs(PostReg) 2002) now has a "challenging but rewarding" role as local facilitator to the second group of nursing students to undertake this course. Soon heading to France on an exchange program, Pooja Gupta (BBusCom 2002) was recently awarded an Eiffel Scholarship for outstanding academic performance. Thomas Mok (BBus 2000) has been promoted to the position of associate vice-president of business affairs, Fortune STAR, in Hong Kong. Based in New Zealand, Rajiv Bhandari (MBA 2002) is currently director, marketing and sales, for ZIP Internet. Ben Landsberg (BBus(Mktg) 2002) is undertaking a graduate program with the Department of Transport and Regional Services in Canberra. Lynden Ainslie (MA 2002) is happy to be living "among the frill-necks and palms" in steamy Darwin, where she is setting up a school art department. Meanwhile, artist Zai Kuang (MFA 2002) received awards in two Melbourne art shows for his oil painting 'Xiao and Her Son'.

Vale Kris Nath, who taught tax at the Caulfield campus from the early 1970s, passed away in early June.

Alumni in print

Entrepreneur Ramesh Ramachandra's (MBA(IntBus) 1993) publications include recent title Big Jump into Entrepreneurship (2003), which will be followed up soon with another title on the intertwining themes of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Paul Jennings (TPTC 1962, BEd 1978) has just released a high-profile book, The Reading Bug - and How You Can Help Your Child to Catch it.

Judith Sackville-O'Donnell (BA(FineArt) 1992) has recently published a book on Jewish convict Ikey Solomon, titled The First Fagin - the True Story of Ikey Solomon.

Researcher Rafaela Lopez (BA 1992) received a commendation in the Best Collaborative/Community Work category in the Victorian Community History Award 2003 for her latest research Origenes: The Presence and Contribution of Victorians of Spanish and Latin American Origins, 1901-2001.

Ian Benjamin (BEc 1970, DipEd 1971) has distilled his 12 years of experience training independent consultants into his first book, Consulting, Contracting and Freelancing: Be Your Own Boss, which helps people navigate the processes of becoming a successful consultant.

Lynne Kelly (née King-Smith) (BE 1973) tells of a battle between science and pseudoscience in her first novel, Avenging Janie.

Hazel Edwards (BA 1971, BEd 1974, MEd 1980) has published her 150th book, Antartica's Frozen Chosen. Deborah Knuckey's (BEc 1986) second book, Conscious Spending for Couples, was published late last year.