Saints Success Stories
The Hon Julie Bishop MP (Kilburn 1973)
Julie Bishop graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in 1978 and attended Harvard Business School in Boston in 1996, completing the Advanced Management Program.
Before entering parliament, she was a commercial litigation lawyer. She became a partner in 1985 and was a managing partner from 1994 to 1998.
Julie was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Curtin in 1998 and was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018.
She has served as a Minister in a range of portfolios including Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2018 and has been Acting Prime Minister. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Adelaide in 2017. In 2020, Julie commenced her term as Chancellor of the Australian National University, the first woman to be appointed to this position.
In April 2024, Julie was appointed Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations on Myanmar.
Gwendolynne Burkin (Kennion 1988)
Gwendolynne Burkin has almost 30 years’ experience working in Melbourne and London in many genres of the clothing industry, from elite designer to mainstream corporate companies.
Her sewing and art teachers at Saints gave her the confidence and support to pursue this passion and the obvious talent she has had since she was a little girl.
In 1997, she established her signature label Gwendolynne which began as a ready-to-wear designer brand boasting 45 stockists globally. In recent years, she has acquired an esteemed reputation for her wedding gowns which have become world-renowned heirloom treasures.
Hitaf Rasheed (Selwyn 1986)
Hitaf Rasheed has a long history in sports management, including 10 years as General Manager – Communications at the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Since August 2008, Hitaf has headed up Events South Australia and is responsible for managing events and attracting events to the State to promote South Australia as a tourism destination.
She has overseen significant growth of the Santos Tour Down Under, Tasting Australia and Adelaide Fashion Festival. Other events her team manages include the Christmas Pageant and Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
Hitaf has also secured a host of major events for the State including the last three editions of the Australian Swimming Trials (Olympic and Commonwealth Games Qualifiers), the Wallabies and the Wallaroos double-header as part of the 2022 eToro Rugby Championship and O’Reilly Cup, the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, the Adelaide International, matches as part of the 2020 and 2023 State of Origin Series, Illuminate Adelaide, and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Dr Laura Eadie (Selwyn 2001)
Dr Laura Eadie is an award-winning biomedical researcher whose love of Science began at Saints Girls. She completed her PhD in Medicine (2013) with a Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence.
She is the current Peter Nelson Leukaemia Research Fellow and a previous recipient of a prestigious Australian-American Fulbright award which allowed her to develop her ongoing research strategy at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, which is one of the premier research hospitals in the world.
Dr Eadie works in the field of high-risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and leads a team within the ALL Genomics and Functional Biology Group at SAHMRI. She is nationally and internationally recognised as an emerging leader in her field and has been awarded more than $2.5M in funding as a chief investigator. She is a TEDx speaker and was a Top 10 Fresh Scientist SA (2017) awarded by Science in Public for excellence in science communication.
Katie Sarah (nee Scott, Kilburn 1985)
Katie Sarah has a Bachelor of Business, Graduate Diploma from Securities Institute of Australia and a Master of Professional Accounting. She owns Sarah Mountain Journeys Pty Ltd, operating treks and mountain climbing expeditions around the world.
In May 2010, she became the first South Australian woman and the sixth Australian woman to climb Mt Everest. In June 2013, she became the first South Australian woman to complete climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents, and in January 2018, became the first woman in the world to also complete the seven highest volcanic summits, known as the Seven Sevens challenge.
In April 2024, Katie completed another courageous feat, the around the world Ocean Globe Race, sailing a 43,450 km sprint in extreme conditions aboard ‘’Outlaw’’. The race took in the Southern Ocean and the three great capes – Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin and South America’s Cape Horn, with stopovers in Cape Town, Auckland and Punta del Este in Uruguay.
Olympia Aldersey (Kennion 2011)
In her first year of international competition rowing in 2010, Olympia Aldersey won a Bronze at the Junior World Championships and Silver at the Youth Olympic Games. She was named Junior Sportswoman of the Year by the SA Sports Institute.
At the U23 World Championships, she won Gold in the Women’s Quad Scull, setting the world’s best time. She again claimed Gold at the Sydney International World Cup regatta.
Olympia set the world’s best time at senior level in the Women’s Double Scull and represented Australia at numerous Senior World Cup and World Rowing championships.
Career highlights include rowing in the Australian Women’s VIII at the 2016 Olympic Games and becoming a senior world rowing champion in August 2019 by claiming Gold in the Women’s Four event at the World Rowing Championships in Linz-Ottensheim, Austria. In addition, Olympia won the Open Women's VIII title at the 2021 Australian Rowing Championships and rowed in the Women’s VIII at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. More recently Olympia was selected in the Australian Olympic Rowing Team for Paris 2024 to compete in the Women’s Four. This makes Olympia a three-time Olympian.
Photo credit: Rowing Australia
Professor Katherine Daniell (Kennion 1999)
Katherine Daniell was a University Medallist and the top Honours student in Civil Engineering at the University of Adelaide in 2004. She was among only eight Australians chosen for the prestigious John Monash Scholarship in 2005 for international post-graduate study. In 2009, Katherine’s thesis on water governance was judged one of the top 10 doctoral theses of France’s elite Engineering and Management schools, the Grandes Écoles.
Katherine is currently a Professor at the new School of Cybernetics, the Fenner School of Environment and Society and the Institute for Water Futures at the Australian National University, and also holds numerous board and senior leadership positions in national and international organisations. In 2022, by decree of the President of France, Katherine was made a Knight (Chevalier) in the Ordre National du Mérite for her work over many years in strengthening the scientific and university cooperation between France and Australia, and for her valuable contribution to research and innovation in water management.
Sophie Rowell (Kilburn 1992)
Studying violin performance in Sydney and chamber music in Germany, Sophie Rowell was awarded many accolades including the 1997 Gisborne’s International Music Competition, Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year in 2000, the 2002 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and 2005 Cremona String Quartet Competition.
She was the leader of the Adelaide-based, internationally-acclaimed Australian String Quartet (formerly Tankstream Quartet) until 2011.
Sophie is a frequent soloist with the Australian Symphony Orchestras. She is Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and violin lecturer at the Australian National Academy of Music. Sophie was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (MCO), commencing her role in 2023.
Jane Peters-Carver (nee Peters, Patteson 1979)
International concert violinist Jane Peters began studies with Lyndall Robson aged seven, making her stage debut at age 10. She shot to public recognition as winner of the 1974 TV contest ‘Showcase’, gained a BA, and in 1986, won the bronze medal and Public Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
As a 1996 Laureate for the Pro Musicis Foundation, Jane is passionate about sharing music in community services, which continues to play an equal role alongside performing concerts, amongst others, at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, Villa Médicis in Rome and Salle Cortot in Paris.
Honoured as an Ambassador for South Australian Arts in 1996, she has directed and played throughout Australasia. She is a Professor at the Rouen Conservatory and Super-soliste of the Normandy Rouen Opera Orchestra.
Melanie Cooper AM (Kennion 1977)
Melanie Cooper became the first female and the first of the fifth generation to be employed at the family’s iconic Coopers Brewery on a permanent basis.
After completing a degree in Economics, she was employed by Price Waterhouse as a Chartered Accountant. She joined the brewery in 1985 as assistant accountant, and in 1989, was appointed Company Secretary and later Director of Finance.
Melanie has been Director of Coopers Brewery since 2009 and Chair of its Foundation since 2011, with Board positions on other industry-related and charitable foundations. In 2014, she was invited to join the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership for a three-year term.
She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia Medal (AM) in 2017 for services to philanthropy and leadership. In 2023 Melanie was appointed as Chair of Coopers Brewery becoming the first female Chair in its 161-year history.
Margaret Gayen (Patteson 2011)
Margaret Gayen made her first National Athletics team whilst in Year 12 at Saints Girls, for the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011. She also represented Australia at the 2012 World Junior Championships, 2013 Asian Grand Prix, 2014 World Relay Championships and Continental Cup. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she was a finalist in the Long Jump and 4x100m Relay.
In 2015, Margaret completed an Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, and after designing technology for eye disease treatment, she moved into the energy industry. Passionate about solving global problems, Margaret is exploring hydrogen as a future fuel, whilst advocating for improved gender equality in the industry.
In 2022, Margaret was named Young Professional Engineer of the Year for SA by Engineers Australia, and Young Energy Professional of the Year by the Australian Institute of Energy (SA branch).
Suzanne Caragianis (Kennion 1981)
Graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy at SAIT (University of SA) in 1985, Suzanne Caragianis studied in the US to become a Certified Hand Therapist, becoming one of the first in Australia.
In 1992, she established SA Hand Therapy, with four clinics across Adelaide. Over the years, she taught post-operative hand rehabilitation in India, and set up a charity to raise ongoing funds for education, training and surgical clinics in Bhutan. Suzanne has set up a scholarship fund with UniSA to support the training of therapists from Bhutan and India.
Suzanne was awarded Life Membership by the Australian Hand Therapy Association in 2018 and Life Membership by the International Federation of Hand Therapists in 2022 for her significant contribution and development to hand therapy in Australia and internationally.
She has worked at UniSA as an Adjunct Clinical Lecturer for 30 years and now works as a clinician/lecturer with UniSA along with running her new practice, Coastal Hand Therapy at Aldinga Beach.
In 2023, Suzanne was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for service to Occupational Therapy.
Sophie Linn (Patteson 2012)
Sophie Linn became involved in sport at Saints Girls from the outset. As well as proudly representing the School, she has also competed for South Australia across Swimming, Athletics, Softball and Cross Country. Her first National team was at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011 where she claimed Silver in the 1500m.
Sophie was awarded a scholarship at the University of Michigan, completing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Sport Business and Human Computer Interaction, and competing in Athletics and Cross Country.
Following her studies, Sophie joined US fitness technology company Wahoo Fitness as a user experience/interface (UX/UI) designer, whilst simultaneously transitioning to the sport of Triathlon.
She represented Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, placing 5th in the Women’s Individual event and winning Bronze in the Mixed Team Relay.
In April 2023, Sophie took out the title of Arena Games Triathlon World Champion in London. More recently, Sophie was selected in the Australian Olympic Triathlon Team for Paris 2024 to compete in both the Women’s Individual and Mixed Team Relay events.
Erin McKellar (Patteson 2013)
Erin McKellar is a talented composer and songwriter with honours including the Helpmann Academy Award for Voice and dual Downbeat Awards. She is completing her Doctorate of Music Arts in Music Theatre Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
She premiered her original musical A Box of Memories in Sydney, opening in partnership with HammondCare and Adelaide Fringe after the show won BankSA’s Best Theatre Award. She has also composed music for shows such as Express and I AM ME!.
Erin’s songwriting credits include the Eurovision Australia Decides song ‘Bite Me’ for G-Nat!on, TikTok star Rory Eliza’s single ‘Young’, Natasha Bianca’s ‘Girl Like Me’ which reached No. 8 on the WAEVZ R&B chart, the 2021 The Voice single ‘Mad About You’ for G-Nat!on, and Emmagen Rain’s single ‘For You’ which hit No. 1 on the Triple J Unearthed chart.
In addition, her music has been heard on Bonds Australia, Target USA and PEMCO Insurance USA advertisements. She is also the Music Supervisor and Composer for HammondCare’s Series 2 podcast, and is continuing to expand her career in the UK.
Thenu Herath (Patteson 2015)
Former Deputy Head Prefect Thenu Herath was named by Young Australians in International Affairs as being among the Young Women to Watch in International Affairs for 2022.
Thenu is the CEO of Oaktree, a youth-run international development agency that works to empower young people in the Asia-Pacific region through initiatives such as targeted education programs, sustainable development projects and climate change mitigation strategies.
Alongside this vital role, she is completing her Juris Doctor graduate law degree and working with the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper community.
