Members
- Dr Ros Otzen (BA(Hons) 1967, GDipEd 1969, PhD 1987) Arts and Education
- Mr James Brooks (BE 2005) Architecture Building Planning and Engineering
- Ms Clare Cummins (BCom 1985) Business and Economics
- Ms Niki Calastas (MA 2004) Arts
- Dr Joseph Doyle (MBBS 2002) Medicine Dentistry & Health Sciences
- Dr David Hill, AO (BA 1964, MA 1975, PhD - Arts 1985) Arts and VCA & Music
- Dr Misty Jenkins (BSc(Hons) 2001, PhD 2007) Science
- Mr David Laidlaw (LLB 1975) Law
- Dr Jennifer Stillman (BVSc (Hons) 1984, MVSc 1992) Vet Science and Land and Environment
- Mr Michael Symons (LLB(Hons), BCom, DipArts(Hist) 2006, LLM 2011) Law and Education
- Ms Rachel K Teo (BCom 1991, PGDipEco 1992) Business and Economics
- Mr Mike Yang (BCom 2005) Business and Economics
Dr. Ros Otzen – BA(Hons)(1967), GDipEd (1969), PhD (1987)
Dr Otzen is the current Chair of the Committee of Convocation, a group that continues as an alumni group following the revamp of the University Act and its removal as the preeminent representative body of alumni in early 2011. In early 2010 her COC colleagues voted her president following the retirement of the incumbent. The Regulations of the new Alumni Council articulate that as President of the former COC, she will be the inaugural president of the New Alumni Council.
Dr Otzen is a passionate supporter of education for girls. She is a former Principal of Korowa Anglican Girls' School, played a leading role in the establishment of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia and has served as Chair of Whitley College Council. She is currently writing a book on Victorian girls calisthenics.
Dr Otzen is a Director of The Invergowrie Foundation. The Foundation endowed the Fac. Engineering s'ship for women entering the second year of ug studies in Eng from 1997-2001. Value $10,000 to be paid in 4 equal instalments during the year. The Foundation has given a total of $162,000. Her husband Peter is a UoM education and science graduate, and their two children are graduates of Architecture and Engineering.
Mr James Brooks - BE (2005)
Upon graduating from the University of Melbourne in 2005 with a Bachelor of Engineering (1st class honours) and a Bachelor of Computer Science, James joined the Ernst & Young graduate program in 2006. In the ensuing five years, James has worked across a broad range of service offerings provided by Ernst & Young including Business Advisory, Financial Modeling and Operational Transaction Services. In 2009 he enrolled to become a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder and has since completed the necessary examinations and professional experience to achieve this. James now holds the title of Manager, Operational Transaction Services and is responsible for advising corporate clients on integration and separation issues pre and post transaction activity.
Since graduation James has also regularly committed time and energy to both the community and the University of Melbourne. In particular, he has demonstrated consistent support for the Melbourne School of Engineering through the establishment and contribution to a variety of committees and Boards. James has also placed emphasis on mentoring both school age and university students through a number of programs as an Ernst & Young Foundation Champion.
James' professional and other affiliations are as follows:
- 2010 Chartered Financial Analysis Charterholder
- 2010 Ernst & Young Foundation Champion
- 2007 Melbourne University Engineering Foundation (external Board member)
- 2007 Alumni Student Liaison Committee (founding member)
- 2006 Student Alumni Social Network (co-established)
- 2005 Bachelor of Engineering (1st class honours)
- 2005 Bachelor of Computer Science
Ms Clare Cummins – BCom (1985), MBA (1996)
Clare is an alumna of the University of Melbourne, having graduated with a Masters of Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School (1997) and a Bachelor of Commerce (1985). She also holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment (1992) and a Diploma of Financial Services (2007) from FINSIA. As part of her MBA, Clare participated in the student exchange program with Southern Methodist University, Texas, USA.
Clare's professional career has spanned the financial services and retail industries and has included ten years in Westpac's Corporate & Institutional Bank in relationship management roles, two years at ANZ leading the Credit Risk Review team, and the Group Audit function for ANZ's International, Institutional, and Business Banking divisions. She has worked in change management roles as the National Safety Evaluation Manager for the Coles Myer Group and in business development for Omega Performance – a financial services consulting organisation. In more recent times, Clare has worked as a researcher for the Business Review Weekly and has just finished a consultancy project in NAB's Private Wealth division.
From 1996 to 2006 she served as a Committee member of the Commerce Faculty Alumni Association and since 2008 has been on the Committee of Convocation.
Clare is on the Board of The Gutsy Group, a not for profit organisation which raises funds for medical research into Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis. Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Board of Moving Galleries, an initiative that has brought together Melbourne's public transport providers, the government, business, various artists and community groups to fund and display art and poetry on Melbourne's trains, platforms and around Melbourne.
Ms Niki Calastas - MA (2004)
Ms Calastas has a postgraduate degree from the Arts Faculty at the University of Melbourne and an undergraduate degree from the University of California Irvine. She currently works in administration for Stanford University with the Public Policy Program, an interdisciplinary academic program, run by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S).
Niki has indicated a strong desire to assist in raising the profile of UoM in North America and serve as a liaison point for alumni there. She nominated for election but was unsuccessful in her category. Niki served as a tutorial leader whilst at UoM, and is an active volunteer with a Colarado based scholarship fund (Huliman Foundation), the Association of Small Foundations 'Next Gen' committee and in her local community.
Dr. Joseph Doyle - MB BS(Hons), BA (2002), BA(Hons) (2005)
Joseph is an infectious diseases physician and clinical researcher with interests in the epidemiology, prevention and management of blood-borne viruses (HIV and hepatitis C). He also has expertise in public health and the intersection between medicine, global health and health policy.
Education
Joseph graduated from the University of Melbourne with degrees in medicine and arts in 2002, and later completed honours in political science. His internship and medical residency were undertaken at St Vincent's Hospital. He then completed a Masters of Public Health at one of the pre-eminent universities in the field – the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He became a fellow of Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2011 after completing this specialist training in infectious diseases medicine at different teaching hospitals around Melbourne.
Current Appointments
- Consultant Physician, Infectious Diseases Unit, The Alfred Hospital
- NHMRC Postgraduate Research Scholar, Burnet Institute
- PhD Candidate, Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, Monash University
Affiliations
His professional affiliations include membership of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, the International AIDS Society, the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.
His community involvement includes prior service on the University of Melbourne Council and the Committee for Convocation (the fore-runner to the Alumni Council), the Australian Medical Association Council, and the Alfred Deakin Lecture Trust. He is also an alumnus of the Asialink Leadership Program.
Dr. David Hill, AO – BA (1964), MA (1975), Ph.D. - Arts (1985)
David Hill commenced Arts/Law in 1960, subsequently changing to Arts alone, majoring in English and History with a sub-major in Russian. After graduating, he commenced studying psychology part-time, eventually qualifying at Melbourne with an MA and a PhD (1985).
His career has been at the Cancer Council Victoria, where his early work was leading its public education and prevention programs, before founding the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC) in 1986. In this role, he helped develop a relatively new specialty in which psychological theory and methods were applied to developing and testing communications designed to help people reduce cancer risk e.g., by not smoking, being SunSmart, or being screened for cancer.
From the outset, CBRC had close connections with the University, particularly the Psychology Department. Honours, Masters and PhD candidates undertook their research and were co-supervised in CBRC, and a steady stream of Melbourne graduates were recruited as research staff. He was appointed a Professorial Fellow in recognition of his research achievements and affiliations with the University.
Along the way, Professor Hill undertook a number of service roles, most notably in the late 1990'sleading the federal government's National Tobacco Campaign which restored the downward trends in smoking prevalence and later serving on both the Health Advisory and Research Committees of the National Health and Medical Research Council. He has served on the Board of the Geneva-based Union for International Cancer Control, since 2006 and was elected its President in 2008. He is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, and has received an MD (honoris causa) from the University of Newcastle. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2009.
Ms Misty Jenkins - BSc(Hons) (2001), PhD (2007)
Dr Misty Jenkins is currently an NHMRC Biomedical Fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Until very recently she was a St Edmund's College Fellow and Biomedical Research Fellow in the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Jenkins is a Gunditjmara woman and was born in Ballarat. She was awarded a scholarship to study science at Melbourne, graduating with first class honours. She completed her PhD with Nobel Laureate Dr Peter Doherty and Dr Stephen Turner in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, where she studied how T cells (white blood cells) fight influenza infection. In 2009 she was took up a NHMRC / RG Menzies Fellowship at Cambridge University, where she continued her work on T cell killing.
Mr David Laidlaw - LLB (1975)
Mr Laidlaw is a partner at Maddocks, a law firm specialising in corporate law with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. He was the CEO 2005-08 and the Executive Chairman 1999-2005. In 2010 Maddocks was ranked as the 19th top law firm in Australia by BRW, with revenue of $89.9 million.
Mr Laidlaw has been involved in many high profile, large scale litigation matters including: acting for major corporates in civil suits against former directors; international commercial disputes; and complex litigation against major banks arising from third party frauds. He has also acted as a consultant to the World Bank and AusAID on legal development issues in the Asian region and is a founding member of ADVOC Asia Board. He previously served on the Federal Attorney General's International Legal Services Advisory Council.
He is registered as a mentor in the Melbourne Law School's mentoring program.
Mr Laidlaw's relationship with the University is managed by the Melbourne Law School.
Dr. Jennifer Stillman - BVSc(Hons) (1984), MVSc (1992)
Jennifer is currently an external member of the Faculty of Veterinary Science from which she graduated with a BVSc (Hons) in 1984 and a MVS in 1992. She acts an external examiner in the equine medicine. She is also a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in the Equine Medicine chapter.
Jennifer has also had an enriching affiliation with the University in her role as a member of the Committee of Convocation since 2002.
Her professional interest is focussed on equine sports medicine, having worked extensively in racetrack practice during her career. She is a member of the Victoria Racing Club, allowing her to indulge her passion for the racing industry.
Her broader community involvements have been many and varied.
She is currently a board member of Griefline Services Incorporated. Her affiliation with this charitable organization began as a telephone counsellor 16 years ago.
Jennifer is also currently President of the Romsey Region Business and Tourism Association as an extension activity of her equine veterinary practice and her service to her local community in Romsey.
Until recently, she was a board member of the Romsey and Lancefield Community Bank. She maintains an affiliation with the Bank in her capacity as a member of its Community Investment Panel.
These are all combined with farm life on a commercial grazing property at Clarkefield with her husband, two children and a myriad of animals.
Mr Michael Symons - BCom, LLB(Hons), DipArts(Hist) (2006)
Michael is the elected Education and Law representative on the Alumni Council. Michael has worked in advisory and finance roles with KPMG Corporate Tax, Orion Corporate Advisory Services and UBS Investment Bank. Michael currently studies at the Australian National University.
Michael looks forward to fostering the Alumni Council's role in facilitating alumni engagement with the university and its students.
Ms Rachel K Teo - BCom (1991), PGDipEco (1992)
Ms Teo is Director of Daniel Teo & Associates Pte Ltd, a real estate investment, development and management company based in Singapore. A graduate of International House, Ms Teo completed an undergraduate degree in Commerce and post graduate economics qualification. She is a past president and ongoing member of the Singapore Alumni association, and has played a significant role in supporting alumni activity for the University over many years, including stimulating the Singapore Alumni Association to become one of the most active international alumni groups.
Rachel is also an entrepreneur, establishing her own online sleepwear company, Libella Bedwear , in 2003.
Rachel has keen interest in the visual arts and is the director of "The Private Museum". A non-profit organisation which encourages art collectors to come forward to share their collection with the public.
She has three children and lives in Singapore.
Mr Mike Yang - BCom (2005)
Mr Yang is Electorate Officer for Mr Hong Lim MP, Member for Clayton and Special Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition on Victoria-Asia Business Relations.
In addition, Mr Yang is currently a National Executive for Chinese Community Council of Australia, Executive Public Officer for the Chinese Community Council of Australia (Victorian Chapter) and Director of Jianghan Golf School, China, which provides PGA qualified training in golf management for tertiary students.
Fluent in both English and Mandarin with some Cantonese ability, Mr Yang has worked extensively as an interpreter in legal, political, community and cultural sectors. As a small business owner, he successfully developed and sold six Melbourne townhouses.
Through his work and volunteering, Mr Yang has built strong relationships with university students groups, community groups, local business leaders from different ethnic communities, governments and consulates. He has extensive experience in organising and hosting events and managing volunteers.
Mr Yang's interests include multicultural policy, international students' welfare and promoting welfare for all alumni and university students.
Mr Yang was one of the four debaters to represent Australia in the 10th International Varsity Debate held in Beijing Sept 2003. He attended the Pompeii alumni event September 2009.
