Meet our Alumni

Fink began his career as an Articled Clerk. He studied law part-time at The University of Melbourne and became a Solicitor in 1877. In 1889 he purchased shares in the Herald and Sportsmen Newspapers Company where he assumed a directorship position. He was a Director of the Herald and Weekly Times until 1912 and its Chairman for the next 30 years.

Fink was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Jolimont and West Richmond in 1894, a seat he held for the next decade. In 1899 he was appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Technical Education and began an extensive review of both technical education and the Education Department. The Commission's findings resulted in an extension in compulsory schooling and the Education Department being removed from Public Service control.

He chaired a Commission preceding the University Act 1904, which saw an increase in university grants and the introduction of new courses at Melbourne. He subsequently served on the University Council for 15 years. Fink was called before the Legislative Assembly to receive Parliamentary acknowledgement and gratitude for his services to education. He also served on the Council of Public Education and was one of the founders of the Victorian Council of Legal Education.

A strong advocate for the rights of ex-servicemen, Fink was Vice-Chairman of the State War Council and the Commonwealth Repatriation Scheme's Victorian Chairman.