Stephen Gerlach is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

company director A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, corporate advisor and the immediate past

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He is a former chairman of oil and gas company

Santos Limited Santos Ltd. (South Australia and Northern Territory Oil Search) is an Australian oil and gas exploration and production company, with its headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia. It owns liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline gas, and oil asse ...

and former managing partner of legal firm, Finlaysons.

Career

Gerlach studied at the University of Adelaide where he obtained a law degree. He worked at legal firm Finlaysons in Adelaide for 23 years, during which he held the position of Managing Partner from 1985 to 1991. He has acted as Chairman of numerous publicly listed companies, including Equatorial Mining Ltd, Elders Australia Ltd, Challenger Listed Investments Limited, Amdel Ltd and Penrice Ltd. He held directors' positions on further public companies including Southcorp Ltd, Elders Rural Bank and Brunner Mond Holdings Ltd (UK). He has also been actively involved in a number of community and professional associations and is currently a Trustee of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, a Director of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, Chairman of The Psychosis Trust and Chairman of the South Australian Cricket Association Nomination Committee. He was the inaugural Chairman of Foodbank South Australia from 1999 - 2014. He was Chairman of Santos Ltd from 2001 until 2009, and was Chairman of Elders Ltd (formerly Futuris Corporation Ltd.) until December 2010. Gerlach was appointed Chancellor of Flinders University in 2010 replacing former South Australian Governor Sir

Eric Neal Sir Eric James Neal (born 3 June 1924) is an Australian retired academic administrator, banker, and manufacturing executive. He is a former Commissioner of Sydney (1987–1988), Governor of South Australia (1996–2001) and Chancellor of Flind ...

in the role. He retired as Chancellor on 30 September 2023 after serving almost 14 years.

Honours

In 2009, Gerlach was awarded

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

"for service to the provision of social welfare programs through Foodbank South Australia, and to the community." In 2019 he was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerlach, Stephen Chancellors of Flinders University Living people Year of birth missing (living people)