List of Old Falconians

This is a list of notable Old Falconians, alumni of North Sydney Boys High School. The Old Falconians Union is the alumni body of the school. The name "Old Falconians" is derived from Falcon Street which is the address of the school. All pupils who once attended the school are considered a part of the union, even if they were only on the roll for a short amount of time.

Politics

 * Mark Aarons political adviser to NSW Labor Premier, journalist, author and activist
 * John Armitage Deputy Speaker of the Australian Parliament, Federal Member for Mitchell (1961–63) and Chifley (1969–83)
 * Michael Baume MHR (Lib) (1975–1983), NSW Senator (1985–1996)
 * Professor Peter Baume NSW Senator (Lib) (1974–1991), Federal Health Minister (1982), Chancellor of Australian National University (1994–2005)
 * Sir Vernon Christie Speaker of Victorian Parliament (1967–73)
 * Peter Coleman NSW MLA (Lib) (1968–1978), Leader of the NSW Opposition (1977–1978), MHR (Lib) (1981–1987), editor of The Bulletin
 * Dr Michael Fullilove (Captain and Dux of School 1989) Rhodes Scholar, adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating, Director of Global Issues Program at Lowy Institute for International Policy, columnist for various publications
 * Michael Richardson NSW MLA (Lib), Shadow Minister for the Environment
 * Tom Roper Victorian MLA (ALP), Victorian Treasurer (1990–1992)
 * Kerry Sibraa NSW Senator (ALP) (1976–1994), President of Australian Senate (1987–1994)

Law

 * Justice Colin Begg at the time of his death in 1984 was the longest-serving Judge of NSW Supreme Court, Chief Judge at Common Law 1983–84 (also attended Sydney Grammar School)
 * Justice Richard Conti Judge of Federal Court of Australia
 * Sir Frank Kitto Justice of the High Court (1950–1970), Chancellor of University of New England
 * Professor Ted McWhinney Canadian academic lawyer, Professor of International Law at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, former Member of Canadian Parliament, authority on space law and constitutional law
 * Justice Athol Moffitt Supreme Court judge for 22 years, former President of NSW Court of Appeal
 * Justice Sir John Moore President of Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission

Religion

 * Philip Dart President of Baptist Unions of NSW & ACT 1994–1995[28]
 * Right Rev Eric Austin Gowing seventh Anglican Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand
 * Rupert Grove solicitor and a prominent Methodist and Uniting Church layman
 * Most Rev Sir Marcus Loane debut native-born Australian Anglican Archbishop of the Diocese of Sydney (1966–1982), also Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia (1978–1981) (also attended King's School)
 * Rev Winston O'Reilly President-General of the Methodist Church of Australia 1972–74; former Principal of Methodist Ladies College, Burwood, second President of the Assembly Uniting Church in Australia
 * Most Rev Donald Robinson Anglican Archbishop of Sydney (also attended SCEGS)
 * James Udy an Australian Uniting Church minister, Master of Wesley College at the University of Sydney, and author

Public service

 * John Brew, CEO of State Rail Authority of NSW 1992–1995, MD of State Transit Authority of NSW 1988–1992, President of Baptist Unions of NSW & ACT 2011–2012
 * Ian Lawrence, former Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand (1983–86); Chairman of National Housing Commission of New Zealand
 * David Rosalky, Head of Department of Family and Community Services 1998–2001
 * Rae Taylor, former Managing Director of Australian Postal Corporation, former Commissioner of the National Road Transport Commission

Business and industry

 * Arthur Ernest Bishop, inventor with over 300 patents in 17 countries, one in five of the world's cars use his power and variable-ratio rack-and-pinion steering technology
 * Alexander Boden Hon DSc, Philanthropist, industrialist and publisher, founder of Boden Chair of Human Nutrition at Sydney University, founder of Bioclone Australia, Hardman Chemicals and Science Press, awarded Leighton Medal of Royal Australian Chemical Institute 1986, author of A Handbook of Chemistry 1937 (11 editions)
 * David M. Morgan, Chancellor of Deakin University, former President of Ford Motor Company Australia
 * Maurice Newman AC, Chairman of ABC, Chairman of Australian Stock Exchange, Chairman of Deutsche Bank, Chancellor of Macquarie University

Academia

 * Emeritus Professor Noel Beadle, Professor of Botany at University of New England 1955–79, Clarke Medal of Royal Society of NSW 1982, author of Vegetation of Australia (1981)
 * Professor Richard Bryant AC, Scientia Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales and Director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic, Appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for his work in Indigenous and refugee mental health, and as an adviser to government and international organisations
 * Rev Arthur Capell Hon D Litt FAAH, linguist and anthropologist, Reader in Linguistics at Sydney University, authority on Australian Aboriginal and Oceanic languages, author of A New Approach to Australian Linguistics
 * Professor Raewyn Connell (birth name Robert Connell), polled the most influential contemporary Australian sociologist, former Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard, known for research on large-scale class dynamics ("Ruling Class, Ruling Culture", 1977 and "Class Structure in Australian History", 1980), and the ways class and gender hierarchies are re-made in the everyday life of schools ("Making the Difference", 1982), advisor to UNESCO and UNO initiatives relating men, boys and masculinities to gender equality and peacemaking, her work is translated into 13 languages
 * Professor John J. Furedy, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto (1975–2005), President of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship, co-author of Theories and Applications in the Detection of Deception: A Psychophysiological and International Perspective
 * Professor Charles Hamblin, philosopher and pioneer computer scientist. In philosophy, he advanced the classical logical fallacies, using the formal dialogue games first studied by Aristotle. In computer science, he was the originator of the recursive stack (or last-in, first-out store), an idea implemented in 1957. Also, inventor of Reverse Polish Notation
 * Professor Wallace Kirsop FAHA, the debut Australian to be a member of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, in 1980–81 held the appointment of Sandars Reader in Bibliography at Cambridge
 * Dr Robert Madgwick, educationist. Madgwick was commander of the Australian Army Education Service during World War II, then inaugural Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England. From 1967 to 1973 he was chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 * Dr David Makinson, Professor in Department of Computer Science at King's College, London University, authority on mathematical logic
 * Professor Raymond Martin, former Vice-Chancellor of Monash University
 * Dr Milton Osborne, authority on Southeast Asia and the French role there; Visiting Professor at Yale 1974–75; First Director of the British Institute in Southeast Asia 1975–79; Author of numerous books on Asian issues including Before Kampuchea: Preludes to Tragedy
 * Dr Michael Taussig, Class of 1933 Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University and also Professor at European Graduate School in Switzerland, acclaimed for his commentaries on Karl Marx and Walter Benjamin, especially in relation to the idea of commodity fetishism, winner of a Berlin Prize 2007 from the American Academy in Berlin, author of The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America (1980) and Shamanism, Colonialism and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing (1987)

Science and medicine

 * Dr Andrew Vern-Barnett, the pioneer in Australia of the care and treatment of autistic children, the Autistic Children's Association which he chaired at its beginning in 1966 has grown to over 600 staff and claims to be the largest single autism specific school system in the world with 800 students
 * Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy AM, Professor of Discipline of Immunology & Microbiology, University of Newcastle, Inventor of vaccine against bronchitis, author of The Mapping of Terra Australis
 * Professor Richard Hunstead, former Head of the Astrophysics Group at Sydney University, one of 33 Australian Science Citation Laureates, the minor planet 171429 Hunstead is named in his honour
 * Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, 2017 Australian of the Year
 * Sir John Kempson Maddox, cardiologist and co-founder of the National Heart Foundation of Australia
 * Gordon McClymont, agricultural scientist, Foundation Chair of the Faculty of Rural Science at the University of New England, and originator of the term "sustainable agriculture"
 * Dr Leo Radom AC, Professor of Chemistry at Sydney University, Professor in Research School of Chemistry at Australian National University, specialist in computational quantum chemistry, awarded Schrödinger Medal 1994, H G Smith Medal 1988 and Rennie Medal 1977

Arts and media

 * Hartley 'Hart' Amos, an influential and prolific early Australian comic book artist
 * Richard Appleton, poet, raconteur and editor who became editor-in-chief of the Australian Encyclopaedia
 * Leigh Blackmore, horror writer, critic, editor and occultist
 * Aaron Chen, comedian and actor
 * Paul Chester Jerome Brickhill, author of The Dam Busters, Reach for the Sky, The Great Escape
 * Jason Dasey, broadcaster and journalist, inaugural Australian sports presenter on BBC World and CNN. Also former vice president for Astro; coordinating producer for ESPN in Asia
 * Robert Dessaix, novelist, essayist and journalist, his first fictional work, Night Letters, was published in 1996 and translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch, Finnish and Portuguese
 * Gordon Gostelow, English actor often cast in villainous roles; he appeared notably as Barkis in David Copperfield (1966) and as Newman Noggs in Nicholas Nickleby (1968)
 * Ken G. Hall, first Australian to win an Oscar, awarded in 1942 for documentary Kokoda Front Line, his life is honoured by the Ken G. Hall Award for film preservation from the National Film and Sound Archive
 * George Houvardas, actor well known for his role as Nick "Carbo" Karadonis in Packed to the Rafters, contestant on Dancing with the Stars 2010
 * Alexander Francis "Lex" Marinos, deputy chairperson of Australia Council, actor, writer, director, host of Late Night Legends on ABC Digital 2
 * Chris Neal, musician, songwriter, record producer and screen composer
 * Chris Noonan, director of the 1995 movie Babe
 * Peter Overton, Television Journalist
 * Ben Oxenbould, actor and comedian, best known for his role in the television series Hey Dad..!
 * John Polson, actor and film director, founded Tropfest in 1994, the biggest short-film festival in the world, directed Hide and Seek in 2005, directed US television series including Flash Forward, Without a Trace, Fringe, The Mentalist, The Good Wife and Happy Town (expelled after completing Year 7, also attended Glenaeon)
 * Greedy Smith, keyboardist/vocalist with Mental As Anything. Born Andrew McArthur Smith
 * Nathan Waks, cellist in Sydney Symphony Orchestra, former director of Music at ABC, composer of score for My Brilliant Career
 * Daniel Wyllie, actor

Sport

 * Allan Border, Australian Test Cricket Captain; holder of the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances of 153 until it was surpassed by Alastair Cook in June 2018 and the number of Tests as captain, Australian of the Year in 1989, the Allan Border Medal, awarded to the leading Australian player each year, is named in his honour
 * Ian Craig, the youngest Australian to play Test cricket (17 years 239 days) and the youngest Australian Test cricket captain (22 years)
 * Jim Cross, rugby union (Northern Suburbs, NSW, Australia). Played three Tests for Australia in 1955
 * Greg Florimo, Rugby League (North Sydney Bears, NSW and Australia)
 * Colonel David Hanlin AM Represented New South Wales in cricket, Chief of Works RAE
 * Emeritus Professor David Hawkins, 220 yards breaststroke gold medallist at 1950 Empire Games, 1952 Olympian at Helsinki, Lovett-Learned Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
 * Rob Heming, rugby union (Manly, New South Wales, Australia). He played 21s Tests for Australian between 1961 and 1967
 * Ben Hinshelwood, Scottish Rugby international, as a Full Back won 19 Caps from 2002 to 2005, previously a centre with Sydney University Premiership XV 2001
 * Graeme Hole, cricketer for New South Wales, South Australia (Captain) and Australia. Also played baseball for South Australia
 * Alan Murray (golfer), Winner of 1961 Australian PGA Championship, 1962 French Open Golf Championship, Australian Wills Masters Champion 1967
 * Jack Pettiford, Sheffield Shield cricketer for New South Wales who played over 200 first class matches in his career making 7077 runs, played for Australian Services in the 1945 'Victory Tests' against England and India and scored two centuries in the latter
 * Rod Phelps, rugby union (Sydney University, Northern Suburbs, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia). Played 23 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1962, and captained the 1960 Shute Shield winning Northern Suburbs side
 * Peter Philpott (Captain of School First XI 1950, including Ian Craig), Australian Test Cricketer, later coached widely including Sri Lanka, in the Sydney Grade Cricket Competition the Manly-Warringah and Mosman Clubs compete each year for the Peter Philpott Cup
 * Justice John Purdy of the Family Court, Australian Chess Champion 1955, 1963; whilst at NSBH, he became Australian Junior Chess Champion
 * Tony Steele, Australian international cricketer, selected to tour NZ with Australia 'B' in 1970
 * John Treloar, the debut Australian to run in Final of 1952 Olympic Summer Games 100 Metres Sprint in Helsinki. He is memorialized in the dedication of the gymnasium at North Sydney Boys High School in his name
 * Rugby League Internationals Herman Peters (later Coach of Kangaroos 'The Invincibles' on their historic unbeaten tour of England and France in 1982), and Don McKinnon

Foreign affairs

 * Dato Tom Critchley, Malaysian Knight, High Commissioner in PNG (1975–1978)
 * HE Gerry Nutter, Ambassador to Italy (1985–1988)

Armed forces

 * Admiral Chris Barrie Chief of the Australian Defence Force
 * Brigadier Adrian d'Hage author of The Omega Scroll
 * Admiral Michael Hudson Chief of Naval Staff
 * Vice Admiral Stuart Mayer AO Deputy Commander United Nations Command, based in South Korea, from July 2019. Commander of Australian Fleet from June 2014, Commander from 2009 of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), former Commander of HMAS Canberra
 * Rear-Admiral Peter Sinclair Governor of NSW (1990–1996), Flag Officer Commanding the Australian Fleet
 * Air Commodore Gordon Steege senior RAAF officer and fighter ace of World War II
 * Major-General Arthur Wilson Commander BCOF Japan

Miscellaneous

 * Professor John Hamilton Andrews, architect, designer of Scarborough College Toronto, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cameron Offices Canberra, American Express Tower Sydney (original form), Intelsat HQ Building Washington, D.C. and the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it became the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers
 * Raymond Hoser, wildlife activist and authority, has published numerous articles in journals worldwide, author of Australian Reptiles and Frogs
 * Dorjee Sun, a social entrepreneur, is the CEO of Carbon Conservation. His work for Carbon Conservation was a subject of the international feature documentary The Burning Season in 2008. In 2009 a newly discovered species of blue spotted chameleon from the rainforests of Tanzania was named after Sun. In 2009 Time Magazine recognised Sun as a Hero of the Environment
 * Sir Anthony Trollope, 16th Baronet of Casewick. and Sir Anthony Trollope, 17th Baronet of Casewick (direct descendants of English novelist Anthony Trollope)
 * Bill Waterhouse, barrister, in May 2010 retired from the betting ring at the age of 88 years, once known as the world's biggest bookmaker, famous for his betting duels with the big punters of the past, he took what is believed to be the debut $1 million bet on a horse race when the "Filipino Fireball" Felipe Ysmael challenged him to a wager in 1968, Ysmael won the bet, but was still left owing money to Waterhouse at the end of the day, former Consul General for Tonga