Distinguished Alumni

Prime Minister 2013-2015

Member for Albury 2019

Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 1981-2003
Distinguished military and legal career

Former Member for Lyne, New South Wales
Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Regional Health

Member for North Sydney 1996 – 2015
Federal Treasurer 2013- 2015, 25th Ambassador of Australia to the United States

Leader of the ACT Liberal Party from 1974 until 1977

Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1988-2003

Lord Mayor of Sydney 1991 – 2003
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 2003-2011

Council Member, and later Chairman 1997-2002

Former judge of the Compensation Court and Dust Diseases Tribunal

Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gilbert + Tobin and co-chair of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition

Disabilities activist, lawyer with the Department of Public Prosecutions, Sydney Lord Mayor aspirant and served on judiciaries of NSW Rugby Union.

Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland; appointed Senior Puisne Judge in 1926; appointed chief justice, Supreme Court of Queensland in 1940.

Barrister, legal scholar and former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Former Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Chief Judge at Common Law, and Royal Commissioner into NSW prisons. Past president of the board of trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW.

Papua New Guinean politician, jurist, and philosopher. Served as the Papua New Guinean High Commissioner to New Zealand 2005-2008.

Barrister, High Court Judge, Member of the Upper House.
One of three Justices appointed to the newly established High Court of Australia in 1903

Secretary then president of the college’s students club
Barrister, High Court Judge, Judge.

Judge on the Workers Compensation Commission of NSW 1964-1985. Served as a war crimes investigating officer on Ambon and as a prosecuting officer at the Morotai trials.

A founding director as well as solicitor of the City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. He was a founder of the Catholic Press in 1895 and until 1907 a director of the Australian Newspaper Co. Ltd, which also published the Australian Star and Sunday Sun.
Served in Colonial Militia and British Defence Personnel

British Australian businessman, chief executive of Network Rail, former CEO of the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority and Lend Lease Corporation

British Australian businessman, philanthropist, and Conservative Party donor, based in the United Kingdom.

First Governor and Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Psychologist and academic, Australian rugby league player and Administrator

Surgeon and co-founder of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Neurosurgeon who pioneered new techniques for surgical procedures in anterior skull base surgery. His leadership of an epidemiological study of head injuries in NSW was instrumental in the introduction of Random Breath Testing.

Army Medical Officer, Prisoner of war in Changi and later the Thai-Burma Railway, surgeon
Major, 8th Division AMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon, Australian Olympian (1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump)
Olympian (Track and field): 1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump; Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon
Major, 101st Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Surgeon, foundation fellow and former vice-president of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, racehorse owner.

Chairman of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Board, for 28 years, honorary gynaecological surgeon and lecturer at the University of Sydney. He played a leading role in elevating Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to the State’s leading teaching hospital. He was a foundation fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Orthopaedic surgeon, founder of the Shepherd Centre for hearing impaired children, former president of the Federal AMA and AMA New South Wales

Member for North Sydney 1996 – 2015
Federal Treasurer 2013- 2015, 25th Ambassador of Australia to the United States

Former Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), High Commissioner to Pakistan and Ambassador to South Africa

Former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, former Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and Rhodes Scholar

Former Australian Ambassador to the Holy See

19th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
Former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2010-2012, Secretary of Department of Defence 2012-2017, Director General of Security 1996-2005

Master of Wine (one of only 418 in the world), writer and ABC Radio presenter

Chief Political Correspondent & Bureau Chief at SBS Australia

Television journalist and host of the ABC current affairs program This Day Tonight from 1967 to 1975. In 1975, Bill was awarded a Logie for Outstanding Contribution to Television, and he was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991 for services to media and tourism.

Former Bureau Chief of Reuters News Agency in Baghdad. Covered the 2002 Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. Author Line in the Sand

Director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory

A major contributor to the academic study of Australian Catholic history. His name is perpetuated in a prize awarded annually to the best student in first year Late Modern European History.

Former director of the University of Hong Kong Centenary History Project.

Australian philosopher, mathematician, and historian of ideas.

Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Epigenetics and Neural Plasticity Laboratory.

A linguist specialising in Oceanic languages. He was an emeritus professor of Pacific Languages and the former Director of the Pacific Languages Unit at the University of the South Pacific in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Devoted to the field of photoelectronics, ranging from his crucial contribution to the development of television in the 1930s to his work on astronomical detectors in the 1960s and 1970s.

Former Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture & Planning (MIT) 1981 to 1992

PhD University of Sydney, Australia, 1968
BS Agriculture, University of Sydney, Australia, 1964
Professor of the Graduate School, Plant & Microbial Biology University of California, Berkeley

Australia’s first astronaut. He flew on Space Shuttle Challenger’s sixth flight (and the 13th flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle program). NSW Space Industry Ambassador

Considered to be one of Australia’s most influential Global futurists and media commentators in national and foreign affairs.

Professor of Surgery in the Department of Clinical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

Rugby Union player who played for Australia in 1947, 1949, and 1953; first grade cricketer.

Retired professional rugby union player. His usual position was scrumhalf. He represented Australia on thirty-seven occasions.

Australian sprinter who competed in 100yd and 220yd events at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Professional rugby union player who currently plays for Leicester Tigers. His playing position is lock. Previously played Super Rugby for the Brumbies (2011-2016) and Australia (2014-2017) and Ulster in Ireland

Professional rugby union player who played for Australia on four occasions between 2014 and 2015.

Olympian (Modern Pentathlete): 2012 London Olympics; 2020 Tokyo Olympics

New Zealand rugby union footballer who played for both the country of his birth and Australia; veterinary surgeon.

Professional road racing cyclist, who represented Australia in two UCI World Team Championships.

Olympian (Rowing) 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Men’s Coxless Four, 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Eight

Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon, Australian Olympian (1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump)
Olympian (Track and field): 1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump; Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon
Major, 101st Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Torero (professional bullfighter) Spain, 1960-1965; lawyer

Rugby Union player who played five Tests for Australia in a three-year international career.

Rugby union player who plays as a tight-head prop. Ryan played eight seasons for the New South Wales Waratahs (2011-2018) and Australia (2012-2014). He is contracted with the San Diego Legion team in Major League Rugby in the United States.

Olympian (Sailing) 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medalist; 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, sailing Men’s 470 class.

South African born professional rugby union player who played sixty-three tests with the Wallabies. After seven seasons with the Wallabies and having played Super Rugby for the New South Wales Waratahs and ACT Brumbies, Vickerman retired from international rugby in 2008.

Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Lismore

Prime Minister 2013-2015

Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

Captain,18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)
Captain, 18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, 54th and 2nd, and 1st Training Battalions, and 12th ALH Regiment, AIF (1st AIF)

Army Medical Officer, Prisoner of war in Changi and later the Thai-Burma Railway, surgeon
Major, 8th Division AMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, King Edward’s Horse, RGA and RAF, BEF

Surgeon Captain, HMAS Penguin, RAN

A founding director as well as solicitor of the City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. He was a founder of the Catholic Press in 1895 and until 1907 a director of the Australian Newspaper Co. Ltd, which also published the Australian Star and Sunday Sun.
Served in Colonial Militia and British Defence Personnel

Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

Flight Lieutenant, No. 466 Squadron RAAF

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Lieutenant, 34th Battalion AIF (1st AIF)

Captain,18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)
Captain, 18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)

Private, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, 54th and 2nd, and 1st Training Battalions, and 12th ALH Regiment, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF) and BEF

Lieutenant, King Edward’s Horse, RGA and RAF, BEF

Captain, RAMC, BEF; AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AN & MEF (Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force)

Private, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC (1st AIF)

Lieutenant, RAFC Royal Flying Corps, England

Major, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Private, 3rd Australian General Hospital (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, RAMC, BEF

Major,14th Australian General Hospital and Reinforcements Unit (1st AIF)

Captain, 5th Light Horse Field Ambulance (1st AIF)

Lieutenant, AAVC Australian Army Veterinary Corps (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, 15th Battalion AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

1919-1925 Private, 102nd Howitzer Battery, AIF (1st AIF)

Major, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Gunner, Heavy Artillery Brigade Reinforcements, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC (1st AIF)

Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)

Captain AAMC, AIF (1st AIF), Sea Transport Service; and RAMC, BEF

Captain, Australian Army Ordnance Corps AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, Z’ Special Unit AIF (2nd AIF)

Private, 4th Pioneer Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, AIF (2nd AIF)

Temporary Captain, 31st Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 8th Field Company Royal Australian Engineers AIF (2nd AIF)

Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

Sergeant, 17th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, No. 1 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 25th Australian Field Personnel Corps AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, No. 3 Field Company AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Squadron Leader, RAAF

Flying Officer, No. 466 Squadron RAAF

Naval Officer, RAN

Captain, 102nd Australian General Hospital AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 17th Australian Infantry Battalion (2nd AIF)

Sergeant, 17/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Army Medical Officer, Prisoner of war in Changi and later the Thai-Burma Railway, surgeon
Major, 8th Division AMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Surgeon Captain, HMAS Penguin, RAN

Captain, 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion, AIF (2nd AIF)

Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

Sergeant, 35th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF (2nd AIF)

Flying Officer, No. 249 Squadron RAAF

Leading Aircraftman, No. 54 Radar Station RAAF

Lieutenant, HMAS Magnetic

Flight Lieutenant, RAAF

Captain, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Signalman, AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 1st Australian Field Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon, Australian Olympian (1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump)
Olympian (Track and field): 1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump; Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon
Major, 101st Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Gunner, 398 Anti-Aircraft Gun Station AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 112 Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Captain, Australian Army Veterinary Corps AIF (2nd AIF)

Flight Sergeant, No. 459 Squadron RAAF

Wing Commander, 1st Operational Training Unit RAAF

Warrant Officer, No. 4 Radio School RAAF

Squadron Leader, RAAF

Flying Officer, 20th Advanced Flying Unit RAAF

Captain, No. 2 Australian Commando Squadron AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 11 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)

Squadron Leader, 28th Medical Clearing Station RAAF

Major, 2nd Company Beach Group, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 20th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Sergeant, MTTD (Motor Transport Training Depot) AIF (2nd AIF)

Private, 17th Battalion Volunteer Defence Force CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Gunner, 22nd Australian Infantry Training Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, No. 11 Field Ambulance 2nd AIF

Major, 1st Australian Parachute Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, No. 2 Cavalry Commando Squadron AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, 41/2 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 7th ADU (Air Defence Unit) AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 1st A PERS STG CAMP (Australian Personnel Staging Camp) AIF (2nd AIF)

Lieutenant, Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)

Corporal, “Q” Field Section, Australian Intelligence Corps AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, RFTS (Rear Field Treatment Station) No.3 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)

Flight Lieutenant, No. 466 Squadron RAAF

Major, 25 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Sergeant, 6th Australian Division AIF (2nd AIF)

Corporal, 14th Australian Radio MTCE Station AIF (2nd AIF)

Leading Aircraftman, 385 Radar Station, RAAF

Flight Lieutenant, Airforce HQ RAAF

Captain, 5th Australian General Hospital AIF (2nd AIF)

Gunner, 32 Company Anti-Aircraft Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)

Squadron Leader, No. 452 Squadron RAAF

Captain, 23 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)

Wing Commander, RAAF

Major, Australian Blood & Serum Preparation Unit, CMF (Citizen Military Force)

Lieutenant, 33 Infantry Brigade AIF (2nd AIF)

Captain, 1st Australian Hospital Ship AIF (2nd AIF)

Australian poet, author, and scholar. He attended the University of Sydney (classics and philosophy), graduating in 1892. He travelled on a scholarship to the University of Berlin to study philosophy. The French symbolist writers, particularly Mallarme, distracted Brennan from completing his studies but he returned to Sydney in 1894 to a position in the Public Library. Brennan was appointed as a lecturer in modern literature at the University of Sydney in 1909 and associate professor in German and comparative literature in 1920. The University of Sydney Library holds the Brennan collection which is on permanent loan to Rare Books and Special Collections from The Nagle Library, St John’s College, University of Sydney.

Countess Eileen Marie Freehill was made a Papal Countess by Pope Pius XI, following her active participation in the Sydney Eucharistic Congress in 1928.Countess Freehill donated £15,000 toward the construction of the College’s Freehill tower in memory of her husband, Francis Bede Freehill. The Freehill Tower at St John’s College was completed in 1938. The tower contains a Lady Chapel at first-floor level leading off the Antechapel, with an ornate terrazzo floor representing the titles of Our Lady, created by the Melocco Brothers (who also decorated the floors of the Mitchell Library entrance hall, the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral, and the ticket hall of Central Railway Station).

Rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker who captained the Wallabies on their first overseas tour in 1908–09. Although best known as a Wallabies captain and cancer surgeon, Herbert Michael Moran had other achievements and was a prolific author. He published his first memoir Viewless Winds: the recollections and digressions of an Australian surgeon (London, P. Davies, 1939); Beyond the hill lies China: scenes from a medical life in Australia (London, P. Davies, 1945) and In my fashion: an autobiography of the last ten years (Sydney, Dymocks, 1946). His criticisms of Australian Catholic Church leaders such as Archbishop Mannix were forceful and caused offense to many people. The book received substantial publicity in the Australian and English press and had wide appeal due to its breadth of coverage. He was educated at Darlington Public School, St Aloysius’ College, Surry Hills, and briefly at Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, before proceeding to the University of Sydney (M.B., 1907; Ch.M., 1929). Moran was also a Fellow of St John’s College, University of Sydney.

John Hubert Plunkett was the first Catholic Solicitor-General and then the first Catholic Attorney-General of New South Wales. He is best known for the prosecution of the colonists who brutally murdered 28 Aboriginals in the Myall Creek Massacre of 1838, seven of whom were convicted and hanged.
Plunkett was one of the founders of the University of Sydney (Vice Chancellor from 1865-67) and played a critical role in the establishment of St John’s College, serving on the first Council.
He was also a founder of the Sydney Grammar School, the AMP society, and St Vincent’s Hospital (where the Centre for Ethics is named after him). He authored The Australian Magistrate in 1835, a significant contribution to the administration of justice in 19th century Australia. He pioneered the Church Act of 1836, which disestablished the Church of England in this country, and embedded the principles of legal equality among religions and the separation of church and state.

Archbishop Polding may be regarded as the founder of St John’s College. It was due to Polding’s advocacy and the generosity of the Catholic community an amount exceeding 20,000 pounds was pledged in a brief period to enable the establishment of a Catholic College within The University of Sydney. The University of Sydney was established in 1850 shortly before the introduction of ‘responsible government’ in the colony of New South Wales. At the time, the place of religion in the proposed university was the subject of intense debate. At Sydney, the scheme which was adopted was that the University itself would not have a religious character, but the government would aid the foundation of colleges by the four main Christian denominations in the colony at the time – Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist. The government assistance on offer required financial commitment from the denominations themselves: so long as at least 10,000 pounds were raised, the government would match the amount up to 20,000 pounds and make land available within the University’s land grant for the building of a college by that denomination.