OLD GUILDFORDIANS
News
In year order
John Gladstones ( St 1938-1949 ) was featured as part of the book release for The Way It Was . The book , written by Ray Jordan and Peter Forrestal , details the story of the Margaret River wine region – one of the world ’ s premier young wine regions . John published a report on Margaret River ’ s suitability for viticulture in 1966 when he was a UWA agronomist .
John Hamilton ( SG 1949-1953 ) became a Member of the Order of Australia ( AM ), on 8 June 2015 , for “ significant service to the print media as a leading journalist and editor , as an author and educator , and to the veteran community ”. John sadly passed away on 22 November 2017 after a long battle with illness .
David Blair ( St / Wb 1961-1963 ) was recognised for his part in the University of Western Australia ’ s research that contributed to the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics . Professor Blair led a team of 26 scientists who were pivotal in detecting a gravitational wave two years ago . The group were a part of an international collaborative project involving 1000 researchers from more than 20 countries . Having worked on gravitational waves since 1973 , Professor Blair says the first signal of gravitational waves that they detected would have started rippling across the universe when life on Earth was still single-cell organisms .
Alexander Paterson ( He 1961-1965 ) is now a Confederation of Australian Motorsport ( CAMS ) license holder as a race official and pit lane flag marshal .
Anthony Evans ( Ha 1965-1969 ) is the Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club of WA ( RAC ) Council and RAC Club Board . The RAC is a motoring club and mutual organisation , offering motoring services and advice , insurance , travel services , finance , parks and resorts , and exclusive benefits for members .
Julian Donaldson ( Wb 1964-1970 ) was featured in The West Australian for his role as the National Trust Chief Executive .
John McGuire ( Fr 1970-1972 ) was recognised by The Western Australian District Cricket Council with the naming of their U15 shield trophy after John . John played 21 seasons with the Mount Lawley District Cricket Club and two seasons with the Willeton District Cricket Club , winning six First Grade premierships in total . He became the second highest all-time leading run scorer within WA First Grade cricket , compiling 10,004 runs . John captained the Australian Indigenous Cricket Team which toured England in 1988 to celebrate the anniversary of the first indigenous team that toured in 1868 . John is excited to attend the 30-year anniversary of his tour this year , 150 years after the original team toured . In addition to the above , John also played more than 100 games for the East Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League . It was at East Perth Football Club that he was part of the 1978 premiership-winning team .
Peter Dhu ( Fr 1974-1975 ) was featured in an article in The West Australian that shared his success story for overcoming a stuttering speech impediment . After years of suffering the consequences from being unable to speak , Peter sought out speech therapy , education and self-help classes to overcome his speech impediment . Now Peter is a Certified Speaking Professional , ranked amongst the top motivational and speaking coaches in the world .
Andrew Denton ( SG 1977-1977 ) announced a return to television this year to host a new talk show called Interview . The show appeared on Channel 7 where Andrew presented in 1995 with his talk show Denton . In more recent years , Andrew took a step away from the spotlight after his highly regarded stint with the ABC series Enough Rope .
Derek Kickett ( He 1978-1978 ) has been announced as the new co-host of NITV footy show Marngrook . Derek played 152 Australian Football League ( AFL ) games for Essendon , North Melbourne and Sydney , as well as representing West Perth , Claremont and Subiaco in the West Australian Football League ( WAFL ) and Central District in the South Australian National Football League ( SANFL ). He was also part of the 2017 inductees for the WA Football Hall of Fame . Derek won a WAFL premiership with Claremont in 1987 , the same year he won the Sandover Medal for being the WAFL ’ s fairest and best player .
Evan Pensini ( He 1977-1979 ) along with his wife Robin , hand-delivered a 7000-strong petition on horseback to the Agriculture Minister , Alannah MacTiernan . The petition , from WA pastoralists , urged the State Government to keep its promise to rewrite outdated laws governing land use in the rangelands .
David Eckhart ( Fr 1972-1980 ) traveled from Port Hedland to Perth to London and back again , taking just the Easter long weekend to do it . Working as a Radio DJ in Port Hedland , David used the opportunity to test the long-range capabilities of the new Qantas Dreamliner , flying directly between Perth and London . He flew all the way in economy and managed to stop in London for eight hours before flying back to Perth .
Nicolas Winterson ( Wb 1981-1983 ) recently returned from 20 years living as an expat in the Asia-Pacific region , and the Europe , Middle East and Africa region , taking up the lead role at KPMG Forensic Services in Perth . Prior to this he did an eight-year stint in the Royal Australian Navy before returning to Perth to complete a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration , and then he jumped on a plane and headed back to Asia . Nic asks his old friends to reach out and say hi .
Murray Grime ( St 1979-1984 ) was selected as a baton bearer for the City of Swan Queens Baton Relay . Regarded as one of the best hockey umpires in the world , Murray has officiated at four Olympic Games and more than 200 international matches . He is the fifth person to achieve this feat . Murray carried the Queens Baton as part of representing the Helena Valley .
Nathan Blackburne ( St 1984-1989 ) was featured in The West Australian ’ s ‘ West Business ’ as part of his role as Managing Director of property developer , Cedar Woods . In the article Nathan discussed the state of retirement living options within WA and the overall project pipeline of his company .
Michael Ottaviano ( Wb 1986-1990 ) announced plans for a large-scale solar farm in Northam . The project is believed to be a first for Western Australia and will produce a 10MW solar farm made up of 34,000 solar panels across 25ha , which will cost $ 17 million to build . Michael ’ s company , Carnegie Clean Energy , will develop the farm on a merchant basis and sell the power it generates into the spot market .
Raleigh Finlayson ( Sc 1989-1995 ) was named ‘ First Amongst Equals ’, the highest honour at the 2018 Business News 40under40 awards .
N ’ fa Forster-Jones ( Sc 1993-1996 ) returned to Perth to perform in Heath Ledger ’ s honour at the Cottesloe Film Festival . The documentary called I am Heath Ledger , which features N ’ fa , was screening on the festival ’ s opening night . The pair were childhood friends and Heath directed N ’ fa ’ s music video for his song Cause An Effect .
Fergus Thom ( SG 1992-1996 ) has now become the Regional Executive for ANZ , looking after the Perth Region for Western Australia in the business banking area .
Daniel Gardiner ( Sc 1995-1999 ) and Julian Gardiner ( Sc 1995-1999 ) represented Noondine Gardiner and Co at a Bankwest Forum to highlight the importance of regional education . The forum was a part of the # savemooracollege campaign for the future of rural business . The two brothers work at their family property , which is also run by their Old Guildfordian father , Colin Gardiner ( Sc 1963-1967 ). Julian and Daniel have been featured by Bankwest in television and print advertising as part of the ‘ In Good Company ’ series .
Hugo Fischer ( Wb 2001-2005 ) has returned to Perth after taking two years off from his career as an engineer to travel through Asia and Argentina playing Polo . He recently promoted the ‘ Polo in the Valley ’ event . He has strong family ties to Polo , with his father and grandfather running polo clubs in South East Asia and at their property in Gidgegannup .
Ben Bullock ( SG 2002-2006 ) has reattempted his motorcycle trip from Perth ( WA ) to Perth ( Scotland ), all to raise money for beyondblue after his first attempt was marred by injury .
Alex Rance ( Fr 2005-2006 ) was featured in an article by The West Australian listing the best players in the Australian Football League . Ranked as the seventh best player , the article praises Rance ’ s one-on-one , intercept and repel ability that saw him named an All Australian captain and premiership player .
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