Grammar News Winter 2017

Tim Sharpless '2011. After graduating from BGS, Sharpless enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics at The University of Queensland. While at university he studied abroad at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. In his final two years of university, he completed work experience at Grant Thornton, BDO and Deloitte, in corporate finance, accounting and economics. Sharpless graduated from UQ with dual degrees and was inducted into the Deans Honour Roll of 2016.

Jeremy Hunt '2016. The 2016 BGS School Captain, Jeremy Hunt graduated last year. During a busy senior year, he juggled leading his peers, with his studies, was captain of the GPS winning cross country team and was awarded the Noel Robertson Cup. This year he started university, studying a Bachelor of Science at The University of Queensland with provisional entry into Medicine.

Nathan Huehne '2011. Following his graduation from BGS, Nathan Huehne completed a Bachelor of Commerce at The University of Queensland. While at university he attended Kings College and was involved in their leadership program, nominated in the ICC soccer team and is currently part of the Old Collegians' Association. Nathan is an Associate with MGD Wealth, where he assists in providing integrated financial advice to clients. He has spent time in Indonesia and the Philippines, enabling him to bring a global perspective and understanding to his work and continues to be a regular contributor to the GK Foundation.

Reunions. BGS Old Boy reunions were held recently in Sydney and Melbourne. The School historian, Helen Penrose was the guest speaker at both events, sharing interesting Old Boy stories found while researching the BGS Sesquicentenary, a book which will be available for purchase next year. Headmaster Anthony Micallef also spoke at the reunions, highlighting the vision for the School, including the upcoming 150th celebrations.

Networking. More than 60 BGS Old Boys attended the finance professional networking evening hosted at Blue Sky Alternative Investments at Eagle Street on 8 March. A panel of Old Boys who all work in management positions at Blue Sky, including managing director Robert Shand '98 who co-hosted the event, shared their personal career journeys and imparted valuable experience to an audience comprised of young BGS alumni. Blue Sky is a fund manager specialising in alternative investment funds in private equity, real estate, hedge fund strategies and real assets. Shand, at just 35, took over the company midway through last year after working at Blue Sky since 2011. The event was at full capacity, with many young alumni embarking on careers in finance taking the opportunity to ask questions of the more experienced Old Boys.

In June, BGS OBA Vice President Dr Michael Forrest '87 and Dr David Fielding '80 hosted a professional networking evening to provide career information for BGS Old Boys who are either in medical school or have started their resident or registrar training. They were joined by a number of Old Boys who have become leaders in their field including ophthalmology, radiology, dermatology, research, cardiology, cardiac imaging, maternal foetal medicine, respiratory medicine and plastic surgery, and who continue to make an impact in our community.

• Ian Meyers '77 received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to dentistry, to professional associations, and to tertiary education.

The three Foundation Day Scholarships remind students of pioneers of the School's past: R.H. Roe, the longest serving headmaster; A.S. Roe, the first Rhodes Scholar; and A.J. Mason, the long-serving teacher from 1889 and 1940.

Headmaster Anthony Micallef described the three recipients as splendid BGS all-rounders. All three have commenced undergraduate degrees at The University of Queensland.

• Mark Adi '16, "Starting a career in defence." Mark Adi graduated from BGS in 2016 and was accepted to the Australian Defence Force Academy this year. He joined BGS in 2012 as an immigrant from Singapore, participated in many sporting teams, and was Swimming Vice Captain for 2016. He wrote of surrounding yourself with a positive circle of influence, getting involved, and creating memorable moments, crediting BGS with helping mould the person he is today.
• Julian Loh '14, "New Colombo Plan Scholarship." Julian Loh has been awarded a prestigious New Colombo Plan Scholarship to undertake a one year exchange, studying renewable energy engineering at City University of Hong Kong. Loh, who is studying a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at QUT, plans to undertake internships in Nepal, Korea and Singapore.
• Eugene Fu '13 and James Riseley '13, "Two BGS Old Boys to become prestigious Yenching Academy scholars." Both 2013 Old Boys have been offered places at the Yenching Academy, an elite postgraduate college at China's Peking University (known colloquially as the Chinese Rhodes Scholarship), to commence a one-year Master's degree in September. Fu had been completing an interdisciplinary degree combining law, economics and the environment at Cambridge University; Riseley had almost completed a Bachelor of Arts in politics and international studies, also at Cambridge University. The pair are old friends, having shared the same Maths B class at BGS and both involved in music, volleyball, fencing and debating.

Richard Powell Francis, the first Old Boy to attend Oxford and a graduate of Balliol College, recorded the destinations of BGS students from 1877 to 1890. Ronald Miller Rice (1908) became a distinguished linguist in the British Foreign Office, working in the consular service for the Ottoman Dominions; he studied Arabic, Persian, Russian and Turkish at Pembroke College Cambridge, and to earn his place had to pass exams in French, Italian, German, Latin and Greek. Recent Old Boy James Riseley '13 was, at the time of writing, studying at Trinity College Cambridge.