List of University of Adelaide people

This is an incomplete list of University of Adelaide people including notable alumni and staff associated with the former University of Adelaide (1874–2026) in Australia.

On 31 March 2026, the university was formally dissolved and (via a bilateral merger) transitioned into Adelaide University, also known as Tirkangkaku.

Alumni

Business

Government

Heads of state

  • Frances Adamson – governor 2021–present
  • Roma Mitchell – Australia's first female judge; its first female governor 1991–1996
  • Eric Neal – business leader, governor 1996–2001
  • Mark Oliphant – physicist; governor 1971–1976
  • Keith Seaman – Uniting Church minister; governor 1977–1982
  • Hieu Van Le – lieutenant governor of South Australia 2007–2014; governor 2014–2021

Politicians

National leaders
Australia
All other countries
  • Peter Ong Boon Kwee – head of the Civil Service, Singapore since 2010,[2][3] the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Singapore since 2009,[4] and Permanent Secretary with Special Duties in the Prime Minister's Office, Singapore[5]
  • Ong Teng Cheong – 5th president of Singapore (1993–1999)[6]
  • Joseph Pairin Kitingan – 7th chief minister of Sabah, Malaysia (1985–1994)
  • Adenan Satem – 5th chief minister of Sarawak, Malaysia (2014–2017)
  • Abdul Taib – 4th chief minister of Sarawak, Malaysia (1981–2014); governor of Sarawak (2014–)
  • Tony Tan Keng Yam – 7th president of Singapore (2011–2017);[7] deputy prime minister of Singapore (1995–2005[8])
South Australian premiers
Other Federal politicians
Other state and territory politicians
  • Adair Blain – member for the Northern Territory (1934–1949)
  • Lia Finocchiaro – chief minister of the Northern Territory (2024–present)
  • Pru Goward – member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, current minister
  • Shane Stone – chief minister of the Northern Territory (1995–1999)
  • Ian Wilson – member for Sturt (1966–1969, 1972–1993), former minister
Other politician figures

Public servants

Diplomats
Military

Humanities

Arts

History

Journalism and media

Literature, writing and poetry

Philosophy and theology

Judiciary and the law

  • Amanda Banton – lawyer
  • John Basten – justice of the New South Wales Court of Appeal
  • Richard Blackburn – former chief justice of the Australian Capital Territory
  • Catherine Branson – former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission and justice of the Federal Court of Australia
  • John Bray – chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, poet and classicist
  • James Crawford – legal academic; judge of the International Court of Justice (2014)
  • Bill Denny – Attorney-General of South Australia
  • John Doyle – chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • John Finnis – legal scholar and philosopher
  • Regina Graycar – emeritus professor of Law School, University of Sydney
  • Hermann Homburg – attorney-general of South Australia
  • Elliott Johnston – Communist activist and justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • Len King – South Australian attorney-general; chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • Robert Lawson – Attorney-General of South Australia
  • Chris Kourakis – chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • Bruce Lander – South Australia's first Independent Commissioner Against Corruption
  • G. C. Ligertwood – judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • Brian Martin – chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
  • Robin Millhouse – lawyer, politician, justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia; chief justice of Kiribati and Nauru
  • Roma Mitchell – lawyer, first female Queen's Counsel in Australia (1962); justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia; first female superior court judge in the British Commonwealth (1965)
  • George Murray – chief justice of South Australia
  • Mellis Napier – chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
  • Rosemary Owens – dean of Law at the University of Adelaide Law School
  • Angas Parsons – former judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia and former attorney-general of South Australia
  • Geoffrey Reed – judge in the Supreme Court of South Australia; the first director-general of ASIO
  • Len Roberts-Smith – former justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia
  • Paul Rofe – former South Australian director of Public Prosecutions
  • Colin Rowe – attorney-general of South Australia
  • Reginald Rudall – attorney-general of South Australia
  • Chris Sumner – attorney-general of South Australia
  • Margaret White – first female judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland

Medicine and science

Nobel laureates

  • William Lawrence Bragg – physicist, Nobel laureate with his father (William Henry Bragg) "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays"[10]
  • Howard Florey – pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1945) "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases"[11]
  • Robin Warren – pathologist, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 2005), for the "discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease"

Medicine

Science and mathematics

Sports

Administration (1874–2026)

Chancellors

OrderChancellorsTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
1Sir Richard Hanson187418761–2 years[16]
2Dr Augustus Short187618836–7 years
3Sir Samuel Way PC1883191632–33 years
4Sir George Murray KCMG1916194225–26 years
5Sir William Mitchell KCMG194219485–6 years[17]
6Sir Mellis Napier KCMG1948196112–13 years[16]
7Sir George Ligertwood KC196119664–5 years
8Sir Kenneth Wills KBE, MC, KStJ, ED196619681–2 years[18]
9John Jefferson Bray AC, QC1968198314–15 years[16]
10Dame Roma Mitchell AC, DBE, CVO, QC198319906–7 years
11WO Dr William Faulding (Bill) Scammell AO, CBE[19]199119975–6 years
12Bruce Phillip Webb AM199820001–2 years
n/a Brian Croser AO (acting)February 2000March 20001–2 months
13Robert Champion de Crespigny AC200020043–4 years
n/a Brian Croser (2) (acting)June 2004June 20040–1 months
14John von Doussa AO, QC, KC200420105–6 years
15Robert Hill AC201020143–4 years
n/a Di Davidson OAM (acting)July 2014November 20143–4 months[20][21]
16Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce AC, CSC, RANR1 December 20144 May 20205 years, 155 days[22]
17Catherine Branson AC, QC, KC14 July 202031 March 20265 years, 260 days[23][24]

Vice-chancellors

OrderVice-chancellorsTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
1The Rt. Rev'd Dr Augustus Short 187418761–2 years
2The Rt Hon. Sir Samuel Way 187618836–7 years
3

The Rev. W. Roby Fletcher

188318873–4 years
4

The Ven. George Henry Farr

188718935–6 years
5John Anderson Hartley189318962–3 years
6Dr William Barlow1896191518–19 years
7Sir George
J. R. Murray
191519160–1 years
8Sir William Mitchell1916194225–26 years[17]
n/a Edward Rennie (acting)January 1924; November 1924;
March 1926
April 1924; December 1924; June 19269–10 months (total)[25]
n/a Sir Robert William Chapman (acting)February 1928; November 1929;
March 1930; June 1932; January 1933; November 1934
January 1929; December 1929; April 1930;
June 1932; February 1933; January 1935
1–2 years (total)[26]
9Sir Angas Parsons194219452–3 years
10John McKellar Stewart194519482–3 years
11Albert Percival (Jimmy) Rowe194819589–10 years
12Sir Henry Bolton Basten195819678–9 years
13Instr. Lt.
Sir Geoffrey Badger
196719779–10 years
n/a CAPT James (Jim) Melville (acting)July 1973;
June 1974
August 1973; August 19744–5 months (total)[27][28]
n/a LT Eric Stephen Barnes (acting)October 1975October 19750–1 months
14Donald Richard (Don) Stranks197719868–9 years
n/a Peter Helmut Glow (acting)August 1983August 19830–1 months[29]
n/a WGCDR
C. Angas Hurst (acting)
February 1985March 19851–2 months[30]
n/a Kevin McLeod Marjoribanks (acting)August 1986May 19879–10 months

[31][32]

15Kevin Marjoribanks (2)198719935–6 years
16Gavin Brown199419961–2 years[33]
17Mary O'Kane199720013–4 years
18Cliff Blake (interim)200120020–1 years
19James McWha200220129–10 years
20Warren Bebbington201220174–5 years
21Michael J. (Mike) Brooks (interim)April 2017January 20188–9 months[34]
22Peter Rathjen8 January 201820 July 20202 years, 194 days[35]
23Mike Brooks (2) (interim)4 May 202012 February 2021284 days[36][37]
24[38]Peter Høj8 February 2021February 2026 5 years[39]

Governance (1958–2026)

Deputy Chancellors

Deputy Chancellor Commenced Concluded Notes Ref.
PTE Sir George Coutts Ligertwood 1958 1961 Position established [40]
BRIG Sir Kenneth Agnew Wills 1961 1966 [41]
Office vacant October 1966 April 1968 [42]
The Rev. W. Frank Hambly[a] 1968 1971
Dame Roma Mitchell 1972 1978 Continuous service in DC roles: 1972–82
Dame Roma Mitchell (2)
(as Senior Deputy Chancellor)
1978 1982
CAPT Dr
E. Harry Medlin
1978 1983 Continuous service in DC roles: 1978–97
Dr Harry Medlin (2)
(as Senior Deputy Chancellor)
1984 1996
Dr Harry Medlin (3)
(as Acting Deputy Chancellor / Emeritus Senior Deputy Chancellor)
1997 1997
CAPT
Dr Sam Jacobs
1984 1993 [31]
MAJ Dr Mervyn Keith Smith CBE[43] 1994 1997
Dr Irvine James (Jim) Bettison
(as Senior Deputy Chancellor)
1997 1999
Janine Haines 1997 1999
Brian Croser 1999 2006 Served concurrently as Acting Chancellor in 2000 & 2004
N. Ross Adler 2007 2009
Pamela Martin 2010 2012
Dianne Davidson 2013 2016 Served concurrently as Acting Chancellor in 2014
Catherine Branson 2017 2020 [44] [45]
David Hill 2020 2022
Kenneth Graham Williams 2022 2024
Juliet Helena Brown OAM FAICD 2024 2026 Position disestablished; formation of Adelaide University.[46]

Faculty

Nobel laureates

Law

Science

Natural sciences

Mathematicians

  • Keith Briggs – mathematician, formerly on the staff of the Physics Department
  • Gavin Brown – mathematician, former vice chancellor of Adelaide and Sydney Universities
  • Charles E. M. Pearce – applied mathematician
  • Renfrey Potts – Adelaide's first professor of applied mathematics
  • George Szekeres – mathematician known for the Erdős–Szekeres theorem
  • Ernie Tuck – applied mathematician
  • Mathai Varghese – pure mathematician, Elder Professor of Mathematics, Australian Laureate Fellow (2018)

Physicists

Medicine

Humanities

Other

Notes

  1. ↑ Born William Frank Hambly; known as W. Frank or simply Frank Hambly.

References

  1. ↑ "Australia's new PM pays tribute to her 'great education'". The University of Adelaide. 24 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "Civil Service head Peter Ong says policy makers must be close to the ground". The Straits Times. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "New Chairman for the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)" (PDF). Singapore Government. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "MOF: Organisational Structure". Ministry of Finance, Singapore Government. 2014. Archived from the original on 14 February 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Prime Minister's Office: Senior Management & Their Personal Assistants". Singapore Government. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Istana - Former Presidents". Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011. Istana Singapore – former Presidents – Mr Ong Teng Cheong
  7. ↑ "Channel News Asia : PE: Dr Tony Tan elected Singapore's 7th President".
  8. ↑ "NUS - National University of Singapore - President's Office - Welcome". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011. National University of Singapore : Past Presidents and Vice Chancellors — Dr Tony TAN Keng Yam
  9. ↑ Blackburn, R.A (1979). "Blackburn, Arthur Seaforth (1892 - 1960)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 307–308. Retrieved 23 January 2008.. Blackburn also attended Pulteney Grammar School.
  10. ↑ "Lawrence Bragg — Biography". The Nobel Foundation. 1915.
  11. ↑ "Sir Howard Florey — Biography". The Nobel Foundation. 1945.
  12. ↑ Munni, Tanjina Khan (2012). "Karim, Abdul1". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  13. ↑ "LAWN TENNIS. The Late Dr. A. C. Curtis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 1933. p. 15. Retrieved 18 April 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
    "Lawn Tennis Tournament". Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser. 1 September 1896. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
    "Mr. A. Curtis (the Lawn Tennis Champion)". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 31 July 1897. p. 233. Retrieved 18 April 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Australia claims record medal haul at world rowing championships after gold in men's quad sculls". www.foxsports.com.au. 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Gold medal row for Aussie pair". www.couriermail.com.au. 6 November 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 "Former Chancellors". University of Adelaide. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  17. 1 2 V. A. Edgeloe (1986). "Mitchell, Sir William (1861–1962)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.
  18. ↑ David Palmer (2002). "Wills, Sir Kenneth Agnew (1896–1977)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  19. ↑ "DVA's Nominal Rolls". Archived from the original on 6 July 2026. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Search for new Uni of Adelaide Chancellor underway". Archived from the original on 15 June 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Uni of Adelaide appoints former Governor as 16th Chancellor". adelaide.edu.au. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "University of Adelaide appoints its 17th Chancellor". Newsroom. University of Adelaide. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  24. ↑ "We recently celebrated The Honourable Catherine Branson AC SC, who will conclude her service as the Chancellor of The University of Adelaide - a role she has held since 2020 - at the end of this… | University of Adelaide". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Edward Henry Rennie | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Death of Sir Robert Chapman". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 28 February 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ↑ "James Melville | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Biography - James Melville - Australian Dictionary of Biography". adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Ambassador of Saudi Arabia - His Excellency Mr Abdul Rahman Nasser Alohaly | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 9 October 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  30. ↑ "Charles Angas Hurst | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  31. 1 2 "University Council and Members of Staff, 1987 | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  32. ↑ Marjoribanks, Kevin (1 April 1987). "Gender/Social Class, Family Environments and Adolescents' Aspirations". Australian Journal of Education. 31 (1): 43–54. doi:10.1177/000494418703100103 – via SAGE Journals.
  33. ↑ "Special Collections" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  34. ↑ "Home". Archived from the original on 10 February 2020.
  35. ↑ "Professor Peter Rathjen, Vice-Chancellor and President". Office of the Vice-Chancellor and President. University of Adelaide. 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  36. ↑ "University of Adelaide appoints Professor Peter Høj as Vice-Chancellor".
  37. ↑ "Council Members' Biographies | University Governance".
  38. ↑ "Office of the Vice Chancellor". Archived from the original on 25 November 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  39. ↑ "We recently acknowledged and thanked Professor Peter Hoj AC as he concluded his five year term as Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide. Professor Høj has been an exemplary". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  40. ↑ "Deputy Chancellor | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  41. ↑ "Sir Kenneth Agnew WILLS KBE, MC". vwma.org.au.
  42. ↑ "1968 University of Adelaide Annual Report". Adelaide University.
  43. ↑ "Mervyn Keith SMITH". vwma.org.au.
  44. ↑ "Catherine Margaret Branson | The University of Adelaide". Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  45. ↑ "Deputy Chancellor | Adelaide University". Archived from the original on 3 July 2026. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  46. ↑ "Adelaide University Act 2023" (PDF). South Australian Legislation. 31 March 2026. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.