OC Connect: The Inaugural Old Cranbrookians’ Assocation Presidents’ Dinner

OC Connect: The Inaugural Old Cranbrookians’ Assocation Presidents’ Dinner

The inaugural OCA Presidents’ Dinner was held in the newly opened Vicars Centenary Building on Saturday 15 October 2022. This special event honoured past presidents of the OCA (1921-2021), our Old Cranbrookians of the Year Award recipients (1997-2022) and the Old Cranbrookians who worked to revitalise Cranbrook’s Senior School campus.

Honour caps were presented by Dr David Thomas and Headmaster, Nicholas Sampson on the night to those past Presidents who could attend or to their family who came to represent them. Likewise, we were pleased to be able to present a framed honour pocket to the Old Cranbrookians of the Year or their families.

Tom Glasson (OC 1998) kept the tone of the night fun as emcee with many anecdotes of his own time at Cranbrook. We were also honoured to have Tom Berry (OC 2012) give an Acknowledgment of Country.

We plan to hold this event every three years to honour Old Cranbrookians who have given so much to the Cranbrook community and indeed our broader community.

Luke Johnson (OC 1986) was named as Old Cranbrookian of the Year for 2023 at this event. Dr Joseph Dusseldorp (OC 2000) was named as Young Old Cranbrookian of the Year at the Cranbrook Awards night, and both were presented with their honour pockets. The OCA was also proud to name Dr David Thomas as an honorary Old Cranbrookian and presented him with an OC tie.

The event was conceived and planned by OCA Vice President, Bill Andreas (OC 1987) to be an event befitting our OCA Centenary and the opening of the Senior School Campus buildings. We came to the view that the perfect way to do this was to recognise those who have built the OCA into what it is today: the OCA Past Presidents and all past recipients of the Old Cranbrookian of the Year. We also took the opportunity to honour the Old Cranbrookian members of the Masterplan 2 Building and Development Committee.

It is the first significant coming together of these cohorts (and their families) in living memory. These men live “esse quam videri” in their lives and in their service to Cranbrook School.

Old Cranbrookian Presidents 1921 to 2022

  1. The Reverend Frederick ‘Polly’ Perkins 1921-1932. Represented on the night by Mark “Polly” Perkins who attended with wife Jo Perkins, who is the daughter of David and Barbara Stone.
  2. William Mayne (OC 1921) 1932-1939. Represented by his son Phillip Mayne (OC 1968). Phillip was christened and married in the original School Chapel. He made the journey from Port Macquarie for this event.
  3. Frank Little (OC 1921) 1939-1946*
  4. Dr Richard West (OC 1931) 1946-1948*
  5. Rupert Furber (OC 1931) 1948-1951*
  6. William Wiseman (OC 1930) 1951-1953*
  7. Charles Ord (OC 1922) 1953-1955. Represented by his daughter Elizabeth McCabe. Elizabeth told us that throughout his life, her father spoke glowingly of Cranbrook and in particular, his friend “Polly” Perkins. She remembers vividly the day her father snuck her onto Hordern in 1954 to watch the Queen drive past on New South Head Road.
  8. Dr Noel Corlette (OC 1924) 1955-1958. Represented by his son Michael Corlette (OC 1957).
  9. William Scott-Fell (OC 1935) 1958-1960*
  10. Baron Brooke OBE OAM (OC 1936) 1960-1963*
  11. Richard Foster (OC 1936) 1963-1965*
  12. Alan Love (OC 1938) 1965-1968*
  13. Dr Charles Phipps (OC 1944) 1968-1971. Represented by his son David Phipps (OC 1972).
  14. Rex Morgan AM MBE (OC 1953) 1971-1974. Represented by his children Richard Morgan (OC 1980) and Victoria Harper. Rex is the only Old Cranbrookian who has been President of the OCA and has been awarded with the Old Cranbrookian of the Year.
  15. Campbell Alexander (OC 1947) 1974-1977. We were honoured Cam’s wife Jan and son, Jock, could join us to accept this honour on his behalf.
  16. Paul Harriman (OC 1945) 1977-1980. Represented by his stepson Andrew Hyams (OC 1982).
  17. Robin Jones (OC 1950) 1980-1983*
  18. Ross Adair (OC 1952) 1983-1986. Represented by his son Nicholas Adair (OC 1988).
  19. Martin Pitt (OC 1956) 1986-1989. Represented by his children, Lucinda Pitt and Angus Pitt (OC 1990).
  20. Michael Corlette (OC 1957) 1989-1992. Michael attended on the night to accept his honour cap.
  21. David Lynch (OC 1956) 1992-1995. David attended on the night to accept his honour cap.
  22. Kim Clarke (OC 1962) 1995-1998*
  23. Gavin Thomson (OC 1957) 1998-2001. Gavin sadly passed away in 2022. He was proudly represented on the night by wife, Candy and son, Hamish (OC 2012).
  24. James Morrow (OC 1964) 2001-2004. Jim’s son, Rupert, accepted this cap on his father’s behalf.
  25. James Sheller (OC 1987) 2004-2007. James attended on the night to accept his honour cap.
  26. James Williams (OC 1972) 2007-2010. James attended on the night to accept his honour cap.
  27. Anthony Lees (OC 1972) 2010-2013*
  28. David Hing (OC 1978) 2013-2016. David attended on the night to accept his honour cap.
  29. Thomas Kendall (OC 1992) 2016-2018*
  30. Jason Graham-Nye (OC 1987) 2018-2021. Jason was represented by his son Harper Graham-Nye (OC 2022).

Old Cranbrookian of the Year Award Recipients
1997 to 2022

  1. Professor Earl Owen AO (OC 1950) 1997*
  2. The Hon. Kenneth Handley AO CStJ KC (OC 1951) 1998. Ken attended on the night to accept his honour pocket.
  3. John Gaden AO (OC 1958) 1999*
  4. Professor Jim May AC (OC 1950) 2001*
  5. Simon Wincer (OC 1960) 2002*
  6. Craig Carroll (OC 1987) 2003. Craig attended on the night to accept his honour pocket.
  7. Brian Bavin (OC 1952) 2004. Brian was proudly represented on the night by his sons David (OC 1977) and Charles (OC 1978).
  8. Professor David Cooper AC (OC 1964) 2005*
  9. Hugh Gilchrist OAM (OC 1932) 2006*
  10. Martin Sharp AM (OC 1958) 2007. Martin was represented on the night by his cousin Roger Massy-Greene AM.
  11. Dr John Elder (OC 1956) 2008. John attended on the night to accept his honour pocket.
  12. Murray Rose AM (OC 1955) 2009. Murray was proudly represented on the night by his wife, Jodi Wintz-Rose.
  13. James Halliday AM (OC 1954) 2010*
  14. Garry McDonald AO (OC 1965) 2011*
  15. Professor Boris Schedvin (OC 1953) 2012*
  16. The Hon. Sir Laurence L.W. Street KCMG QC AC (OC 1942) 2013*
  17. Jim Maxwell AM (OC 1967) 2014*
  18. Anthony M.F. Abrahams AM (OC 1961) 2015. Anthony attended on the night to accept his honour pocket.
  19. Michael Crouch AC (OC 1951) 2016*
  20. Professor Richard Hunter (OC 1970) 2017*
  21. David Handley AM (OC 1983) 2018. David attended the evening, with father Ken and received his honour pocket.
  22. Professor Michael Coper AO (OC 1962) 2019*
  23. Rex Morgan AM MBE (OC 1953) 2020. Rex was represented by his children Richard Morgan (OC 1980) and Victoria Harper, who received his honour pocket.
  24. Mike Cannon-Brookes (OC 1997) 2021*
  25. Geoff Coombes OAM (OC 1991) 2021. Geoff attended on the night and received his honour pocket.
  26. Steven Solomon (OC 2011) 2022. Steven attended on the night and received his honour pocket.
  27. Samuel Levy (OC 1987) 2022*

Cranbrook School Masterplan 2

  1. Craig Carroll (OC 1987), Cranbrook School Council Director, Cranbrook Foundation Director and Cranbrook School, Building & Development Masterbuild Committee.
  2. Jon North (OC 1981), Cranbrook School Council President and Cranbrook School Building & Development Masterbuild Committee.
  3. Ben Ritchie (OC 1989), Cranbrook School Council Director and Cranbrook School Building & Development Masterbuild Committee.
  4. Simon Swaney, Cranbrook School Building & Development Masterbuild Committee. *
  5. Hugh Dowling (OC 1984), Cranbrook School Council Director, Cranbrook Foundation Director and Cranbrook School Building & Development Masterbuild Committee.
  6. Luke Johnson (OC 1986), Principal, Architectus.
  7. Tony Derham (OC 1986), Managing Director, GF Group.*

*We were unable to honour these Old Cranbrookians’ on the night and will make contact with them or
family members so that we may honour them at our next Old Cranbrookians’ Presidents’ Dinner in 2025.

OCA Presidents’ Dinner 2022 from Cranbrook Foundation on Vimeo.