Great Scot - The Scotch Family Magazine - Issue 149 December 2016 Great Scot - The Scotch Family magazine issue 149 | Page 64

Development
the Australian Academy of Technological
Sciences, founded to recognise and promote
the achievements of Australian scientists,
technologists and engineers.
Sir David was awarded the CBE (1971) for
services to industry, science and education, and
was knighted in 1979 for services to industry.
After an outstanding career, he was appointed
AC for service to science and technology, to
business and the community. Sir David died on
12 March 1988. The Sir David Zeidler Auditorium
is pictured below.

and Northern Hospitals, and a founder of Buller
Knights charity.
Fittingly, the Simon Bernard (’84) Life Sciences
Laboratory overlooks the Yarra, a place where
Simon spent many hours rowing for Scotch.
It was an honour accompanying Julie
Bernard, together with sons Max and Louis,
with Andy Cohen and Andy’s parents, Sheldon
and Sally, on Monday 3 October, just prior to the
official opening of the Centre for Science. He is
pictured below with Bequest Manager
Sandra Dick.

On site tours for key Science
Centre donors
The official opening of the Sir Zelman Cowen
Centre for Science on 6 October was the first
opportunity many donors had to see first hand
how the school had invested their money.
Granting naming rights for significant contributions
($250,000 plus) played a significant role in the
success of the Capital Campaign.
John (‘41) and Wendy Hilton-Wood were
granted naming rights to the School of General
Science, located on the second floor of the
building. The School of General Science
comprises six teaching laboratories and one
project room.
John Hilton-Wood attended Scotch from
1940 to 1941. As a skilled skier he was involved
in the early development of Mount Buller, where
he began business towing skiers on a Tucker
Sno-Cat. From 1955 he ran his company, Bull
Run Enterprises, which became Blue Lifts. In
1963 John introduced snow grooming, and in
1965 started the popular French Ski School. Blue
Lifts grew from three lifts in 1964 to 20 lifts. It
merged in 1984 with the McMahon Construction
Company, taking over Orange Lifts in 1985 to
become Buller Ski Lifts. In 1985 John introduced
snowmaking guns to Mount Buller.

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Sadly John died earlier this year and was unable
to see the space named in his honour. His widow
Wendy is pictured next to the donor recognition
plaque in the John Hilton-Wood School of General
Science with Director of Development Tim
Shearer.

We were delighted to accompany Lady Zeidler
on a tour of the Centre for Science on Wednesday
19 October, with her daughter Sue Winneke and
son-in-law John Winneke (‘56). Lady Zeidler’s
generous commitment to the Capital Campaign

for the Centre for Science was recognised with
naming rights to the auditorium on the ground
floor.
Sir David Zeidler (‘35) attended Scotch from
1932 to 1935, and married June Broadhurst
at Scotch on 20 November 1943. Inspired to
become a chemical engineer – then a new
profession at the forefront of technological
progress – Sir David graduated Bachelor of
Science (1938) and Master of Science (1940)
from the University of Melbourne. In 1942 he
j oined the Division of Industrial Chemistry in
the (now) CSIRO, and was recognised for his
ability to combine basic scientific research with
practical applications.
Recruited in 1952 by ICIANZ to head its
research and development program, Sir David
led his research team in world-leading scientific
innovations resulting in successful commercial
applications, including the manufacture of PVC
from ethylene and the development of a stable
ammonium nitrate-based explosive.
As managing director and chairman of
ICIANZ Sir David was a wise and encouraging
leader, building on strong research and
development to achieve commercial success for
ICIANZ. He played a large part in establishing

Andy Cohen (’84) and members of the Class
of 1984 provided funds to support the campaign
to recognise classmate Simon Bernard who died
suddenly on 2 January 2011. Simon attended
Scotch from 1973 to 1984 and was a Prefect
and Monash House Captain. His sons Max (Year
12) and Louis (Year 7) are presently at Scotch.
Simon was a plastic and reconstructive surgeon
in private practice and at the Royal Melbourne

Great Scot Number 149 – December 2016

Geoff Paton’s generosity was recognised with
naming rights to the Max Paton (’26) Science
Laboratory. Max Paton boarded at Scotch from
1920 to 1926, and was a 1926 Probationer and
inaugural School House Vice Captain in the same
year. Max followed in the footsteps of his father,
Dr James Scott Paton, who attended Scotch
from 1885 to 1893, and in turn sent sons Michael
and Geoffrey to Scotch from 1942 to 1953 and

from 1946 to 1957 respectively. Max, who was a
company director, died on 6 April 2003.
The school is indebted to Geoff Paton for his
foresight and generosity.
Anita Wong and Wilson Lai have honoured
Anita’s father, Hon Kiu William Wong, by
supporting the Capital Campaign. Their
generosity has been recognised with naming
rights to one of the Chemistry laboratories on the
top floor of the building in the Charles Goode AC
(’56) School of Physical Sciences.
Hon Kiu William Wong was born to a Chinese
family in Indonesia on 15 April 1943. He grew up
and lived in Jakarta until the age of 17, when he
went to mainland China to further his education.
At the age of 21 William moved to Hong Kong
and started his first company. A man with a
vision and strong determination, William was a
pioneer in investing and setting up his business
in mainland China in the 1980s. He established
Hollyland, his first high quality China-based circuit
protection manufacturing company. Despite the
challenges, William took Hollyland from a start-up
in the 1970s to what is today a world-leading,
publicly listed circuit protection manufacturing
company, held in the highest regard within the
industry.
In his later years William earned a reputation
as a philanthropist, focusing on education. In his
words, ‘there is no better gift in the world than the
gift of knowledge’. He strongly believed that there
is nothing more powerful and life-changing than
what education can do in a person’s life, or in
society as a whole.
William died in Hong Kong on 4 February
2015. Anita and Wilson are pictured in the
laboratory below, with Anita's Mother Sharon.
TIM SHEARER – DIRECTOR OF
DEVELOPMENT

www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot

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