Meet our Alumni

Sir Russell Grimwade was a successful businessman who is remembered for his significant contributions to Victorian society. Grimwade graduated in science at The University of Melbourne before joining the family pharmaceutical firm Felton Grimwade & Company in 1903. He began as Director of its new research laboratory and was admitted as a Partner in 1907.

He was a Director and Alternate Chairman of Drug Houses of Australia and a Director in Cuming Smith & Company and Australian Glass Manufacturers. He was also involved in establishing the industrial gas-producing Australian Oxygen Company and Carba Dry Ice Company. Grimwade chaired the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and donated 50,000 to build the Russell Grimwade School of Biochemistry.

He was granted honorary membership of the British Medical Association, a rare distinction at that time. He also produced 3,000 pairs of crutches from his home workshop. Grimwade served on the Advisory Council that established the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (now CSIRO) and, to support conservation, sponsored its Forest Products Division and the Australian Forestry School.

Also a botanical enthusiast, he served on the Advisory Committee for the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and wrote An Anthology of the Eucalypts (1920). He was Chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria, a member of the Board of the National Museum of Victoria and Deputy Chancellor of Melbourne.

Grimwade donated Captain Cook's Cottage to the people of Victoria and his home 'Miegunyhah' to The University of Melbourne. He and his three brothers also donated the family home 'Harleston' to Melbourne Grammar School. Grimwade was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1935 and was knighted in 1950 for his services to philanthropy.