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Tom Denniss (born 24 February, 1961 ) is an Australian athlete, scientist, and entrepreneur. He has a PhD in Mathematics and Oceanography, has invented a technology to convert the energy in ocean waves into electricity, founded a company to commercialize that technology (originally named Energetech Australia Pty Ltd in 1997 , later changed to Oceanlinx Ltd in 2007 ), has played professional rugby league , and in 2013 set a new world record for the Fastest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot.

Early Life
Denniss was born in 1961 in Wollongong, 80 km south of Sydney, Australia. Moving with his family to the southern Wollongong suburb of Warilla in 1964, he attended Warilla North Primary School from 1966 to 1973, and Lake Illawarra High School from 1974 to 1979, elected as Student Council President at the latter in 1979. From 1980 to 1982 Denniss completed a degree in Mathematics at the University of Wollongong, and a Diploma in Education from the University of New South Wales in 1983.

Career
Denniss initially trained as a high school mathematics teacher, teaching at Newtown High School in Sydney from 1984 to 1990. He obtained a First Class Honours degree in Science from the University of New South Wales while attending part-time during 1988/89. Denniss then worked as an Associate Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of New South Wales from 1990 to 1994 while completing his PhD.

From 1994 to 1999, Denniss worked at Macquarie Bank, a leading Australian investment bank. During this period he founded Energetech Australia and, during his spare time, began commercializing the wave energy technology he had earlier invented. In 1999 Denniss took on the full time role as CEO of Energetech Australia.

In late 2004, Denniss stood aside as the CEO of Energetech, but continued in the role of Chief Technology Officer of the company. In 2005 he was invited by Jeffrey Sachs (Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General) to be a member of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, serving on this forum till 2009. In 2006 the wave energy technology Denniss invented was named by the US based International Academy of Science as one of Ten Most Outstanding Technologies in the World. At a ceremony in Hawaii in 2007, Denniss was the first person to be inducted into the International Ocean Energy Hall of Fame as an ocean energy pioneer. In Shenzhen, China, in 2009, the technology invented by Denniss was ranked third by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its annual list of the Top Ten Renewable Energy Investment Opportunities in the World.

Denniss served as the Australian Government's representative on the International Energy Agency's Ocean Energy Systems Committee from 2007 to 2011 and on the Australian Government's Advisory Board for the Clean Energy Innovation Centre in 2010/11.

Sporting Achievements
Denniss was a member of the Warilla North Primary School 4 x 100 metre relay team which won three New South Wales state titles from 1971-73, setting state records in 1971 (Junior Boys - 57.4 sec) and 1973 (Senior Boys 52.7 sec). He was also a member of the Lake Illawarra High 15 years 4 x 100 metre relay team in 1976 which won the New South Wales Combined High Schools state title in record time (45.4 sec).

As a 17 year old in 1978, Denniss was selected as a reserve in the NSW Combined High Schools Rugby League team. The same year he was chosen to play First Grade for the Warilla Gorillas rugby league team in the NSW South Coast Rugby League competition. He was a regular First Grader until his retirement from the game in late 1982, the year he was selected to play in the NSW Country Team in the NSWRL's annual City versus Country match. Denniss was also the leading try scorer in the South Coast competition in 1980 and 1981

On December 31, 2011, Denniss began running around the world. He completed this 26,232 km journey on September 13, 2013, becoming the second person to successfully complete a fully documented world run according to the rules defined by the sport's international governing body, the World Runners Association, in the process setting a new world record of 622 days for the Fastest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot. His accomplishment was the equivalent of running 622 marathons in 622 days.

Denniss has also run 100 metres in 10.9 seconds (July 24, 1978) and 100 km in 9 hours 26 minutes (May 2, 2008). It has been postulated he is the only person ever to have run both 100 metres in less than 11 seconds and 100 km in less than 11 hours,.

Awards, Records, and Recognition

 * 2005 - Member of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change
 * 2006 - The wave energy technology invented by Denniss named by the US based International Academy of Science as one of Ten Most Outstanding Technologies in the World
 * 2007 - First person to be inducted into the International Ocean Energy Hall of Fame
 * 2014 - Finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards
 * 2014 - Officially awarded the world record for the Fastest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot by the sport's governing body, the World Runners Association.