Where are they now? Mick McGrath (SJOC 1965) I left St Joseph’s at the end of 1965 and with the aid of a Commonwealth Scholarship studied mathematics and science at the University of Melbourne, where I was resident in Newman College for the duration of my undergraduate degree. I was awarded a BSc in 1969 and joined the Postmaster General’s Department (later called Telecom and, then, Telstra). After completing a computer programming training course I was transferred to the organisation’s Information Systems Department, NSW, where I worked in a variety of operational and systems’ development roles, including stints as manager, National Applications Development and manager Information Architecture. Whilst with Telecom I was awarded an internal scholarship to pursue a masters research degree investigating the application of artificial intelligence languages and techniques to verylarge databases. I was awarded my masters qualification in 1982. I left Telecom at the end of 1990 in order to further pursue my research interest in artificial intelligence and graduated with a PhD from Macquarie University in 1993. I joined the Computer Science Department at Macquarie after my PhD studies and remained with them until the end of 2001, when I moved back to Melbourne as the inaugural Professor of Information Systems at Victoria University (VU). I retired at the end of 2019 but remain actively involved with my research and hold both an Honorary Professor’s position at VU and a position as a member of the College of Eminent Professors at William Angliss Institute. I have won a number of large government research grants and have authored over 300 journal and conference articles and book chapters. I married Lesley O’Neill (ex-Sacred Heart College) in 1970 and we live today in Kensington Banks (a short bike ride from VU’s Footscray Park campus).
1970 Commonwealth Games triple jump at Edinburgh, Scotland. I won the Australian triple jump championship on five occasions between 1970-1978 and a total of 11 Vic and NSW long and triple jump championships between 1969-1983. I also won the British triple jump championship in 1975. At various points I held Australian, Vic and NSW open and residential triple jump records, as well as the Australian junior triple jump and decathlon records. I competed for the University of Melbourne in the Australian Intervarsity carnival between 1966-1968 and won a total of six events in the high, long and tripe jumps, as well as the 4x100m relay. I was awarded a University full-blue in 1966. At St Joseph’s, I was open athletics champion in 1964 and also 1965 (where I won all running and jumping events: 100, 220, 440, 880 yards, mile, HJ, LJ and TJ, plus third in the 120H and shot put). Later in 1965, I won the 220y, HJ and LJ events at the Combined Country Catholic Colleges meeting at Olympic Park, Melbourne and the Vic All-Schools triple jump championship. I also won the School cross-country championship and Combined Geelong Schools cross-country title in 1965. I played CHF in the School’s 1965 GDFL U18 premiership team (undefeated). My major influences at St Joseph’s were Brother Stewart, Brother Flaherty and Brother Howe. As school 1st-18 football coach, Br. Stewart was something of a legend among the boys and, while he took us for Year 11 Chemistry, football was pretty clearly his major priority. He was extremely supportive of all of us who played under him. Br. Flaherty took all the school’s senior mathematics classes and displayed the ‘patience of Job’
I also competed for Australia in the long and triple jump between 1969 and 1977, including the Olympic Games (1972) and the Commonwealth Games (1970 and 1974). My best result was a silver medal in the
GDFL U18 premiers 1965 (McGrath is 4th from right, back row).
21
Triple jumping to a silver medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh, Scotland).