GALLERY OF ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEES 2023
Peter Danchin completed his B.A. in Classics and LL.B. with first class honors at the University of Melbourne in 1994 where he was President of the Law Students’ Society. He was named a Lionel Murphy Scholar in 1996 and went on to study International Law at Columbia University in New York. In 1999, he was a law clerk to Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson at the Constitutional Court of South Africa before returning to Columbia where, from 2000 to 2006, he directed the Human Rights Program at the School of International and Public Affairs.
After completing his doctorate on freedom of religion in international law, he became Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Maryland in Baltimore in 2006. He was appointed to Professor in 2011 and Jacob A. France Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty in 2020. For the last decade, he has directed the school’s International and Comparative Law Program teaching courses, conducting research and leading research projects in Australia, Egypt, Europe, Ireland, Latin America, Southern Africa, and Taiwan.
He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton in 2014-15 and A.W. Mellon Visiting Fellow in Law and Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town in 201314. He has held visiting fellowships and was appointed as an Honorary Professor in the College of Law at the Australian National University in Canberra in 2023. He has published widely in the fields of international law, human rights, and comparative constitutionalism with a focus on the politics of religious freedom in legal, political, and moral thought. His publications include Protecting the Human Rights of Religious Minorities in Eastern Europe (Columbia 2002), United Nations Reform and the New Collective Security (Cambridge 2010), and Politics of Religious Freedom (Chicago 2015).
John has been involved in coaching the sport of Gymnastics for more than 30 years. Over this time, John has coached athletes to represent Australia at ten World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Olympic Games. Notably, he is the only Australian Gymnastics coach to have had gymnasts represent Australia at the past four consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) as well as being the only Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) Australian coach to have had gymnasts medal at the last four consecutive Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).
John has been named in the Coaching Team of the Year numerous times over the years by both Gymnastics Victoria and Gymnastics Australia, has been a finalist for Victorian Sport Coach of the Year on three occasions, and was the Australian Women’s Gymnastics Head Coach at the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games.
John received a Centenary of Federation Scholarship in 2001 and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2021. Most recently, he received the International Gymnastics Federation Honorary Coaches’ Diploma which is awarded to a coach who has represented his or her country at a minimum of eight International Gymnastics Federation competitions (Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, World Championships) as a National Coach or a personal coach. John is one of the first WAG coaches in Australia to be awarded this Diploma.
John is renowned for his exceptional coaching techniques, work ethic and passion for learning, and is considered one of Australia’s most highly regarded Gymnastics coaches.
Dan made his debut with the Port Adelaide Football Club in 2017 after he was their third selection and forty-fifth overall in the 2016 rookie draft. Prior to the start of the 2017 Season, he was promoted to the senior list and subsequently made his debut in the twenty-eight point win against Sydney in the opening round of the season at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Dan received the AFL Rising Star nomination in 2017 for Round 21 after gathering 21 disposals and kicking his first AFL goal in the 27-point win over Collingwood at the Adelaide Oval.
In 2018, Dan received the Gavin Wanganeen Medal awarded to the Port Adelaide’s best performing AFL player under the age of 21. Dan also received the Coaches’ Award as player who is deemed to be the most improved by the coaches.
Dan has finished third for the John Cahill Medal for the best performing Port Adelaide AFL player in both the 2019 and 2022 season. In 2019, Dan was named in the 22 Under 22 team, an honorary representative Australian Rules Football team created by the AFL Players’ Association that seeks to recognise the best young talent in the Australian Football League.
Dan has signed to stay at Port Adelaide until at least the end of 2027.
WONG (2012)
The Gallery of Achievement
The Camberwell Grammar School Gallery of Achievement was established to acknowledge and celebrate the success of generations of Old Camberwell Grammarians.
It is an ongoing, evolving project, which aims to inspire current and future students to pursue excellence in a wide range of careers, community service and sport.
Chris joined Camberwell Grammar in 2007 and has always been an avid Ice Hockey player. He first represented Victoria in 2005 and continued to represent Victoria in multiple age groups, captaining multiple teams to gold and silver medals in state championships throughout his years at the School.
In 2011, he was selected for the Under 18 Australian National team as their youngest player at 15 years old, where they won gold at the World Championships. He also signed his first contract in the semi-professional Australian Ice Hockey League with the Melbourne Ice, winning back-to-back National Championships. In 2012, Chris represented Australia again in the Under 18 World Championships and in 2013 he captained the Under 18 National team. During 2010 – 2013 Chris played in junior teams in Finland to hone his skills, returing home to complete the school year.
In 2014, Chris represented Australia in the Under 20 national team in the World Championships. In 2016, he was selected to play for the Australian Men’s National team in Romania, winning silver. In 2017, Chris played a career-best season with the Melbourne Ice and set a new league record with the most wins, and eventually took out the National Championship, the 3rd in his Hockey career. Following the impressive season, he was signed for his first professional contract to play in Sweden Division 2, playing one season with Sweden’s Boro Vetlanda. Chris represented the Australian men’s team two more times winning another silver and a bronze medal in Netherlands and Serbia respectively.
Away from Hockey, Chris studied industrial design and married fellow designer Christine Comelli in 2022. They have now both moved away from design and run their own business, Porcupine Eatery, transitioning from designer to a chef and restaurateur.
A detailed biography of each past student inducted will be included in a Gallery of Achievement Perpetual File, to be held in the Camberwell Grammar School Community and Development Office.
Some of these biographies have been edited for space. Full biographies are available at www.ocga.org.au.
CAMBERWELL GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Phone: 9835 1777
www.cgs.vic.edu.au