2021 Adelaide Oxford Honorary MBA Degree List

The first of February is one of the most important dates in the English-speaking world because it was on this day back in 1884 that the first portion (or fascicle) of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

We hold this day dear to our hearts because not only was I born in Oxfordshire but I am a logophile and proud of it.

I’ve heard rather vulgar people say that logophiles can’t keep their “dics” in their pants, but I find such references sordid, unmannerly, and indecorous!

To celebrate the joy one gets from leafing through the pages of an Oxford English Dictionary, we like to announce recipients of honorary MBA degrees.

Such degrees are held in high regard and tend to lead to much interest in people attending A Lunchtime MBA, happening every weekday throughout the 2021 Adelaide Fringe Semester.

It takes cognitive plasticity to embrace our concept of a deliciously accelerated Masters Degree over a business lunch, but this is the very spirit from which back-of-the-envelope moonshots launch.

With that said, it gives me great pleasure to announce our list of 16 awardees, whittled down from our initial list of 69 during quite passionate debate held in camera inside the Treasury 1860 wine cellar, which is on the ground floor of our campus building.

We hope to see these newest members of our alumni, along with friends, family members, and associates, at our Adelaide Fringe season of A Lunchtime MBA being held each weekday during the 2021 Fringe.

The 2021 Adelaide Oxford Honorary MBA Degree List

Here is our list of Honorary MBA Degree recipients, listed by name, specialisation, and the rationale behind their selection. Hard copies will be posted to recipients next week.

James Askham-Levy, Brand Manager, San Remo / Balfours
MBA (Strategic Leap Frogging)
James is a dynamic marketer and brand manager and has confidently held the reins of some of Adelaide’s most popular brands but his work in taming the famous Balfours Frog Cake (as heard in this Adelaide Show Podcast interview The Balfours Story in 2019, left an indelible mark and some sweet crumbs upon our panel.

Sarah Bartholomeusz, Lawyer, You Legal
MBA (Strategic Governance Goddess)
As a mother, lawyer, author, and entrepreneur, Sarah has blazed an ethical pathway to crafting a service for leaders of other companies to make bold decisions about governance with confidence. Although endowed with goddess status, this earthly honour is a small way of showing our awe.

Professor Michael Brooks, Interim Vice Chancellor, University Of Adelaide
MBA (Collegiate Relations Management)
While Professor Michael Brooks has little need of an MBA to add to his collection of letters, we are offering this in the spirit of collegiality, and to stay upon his radar so that he takes our call when we reach the point of needing to head hunt for new leaders.

Stewart D’Arrietta, Lawyer turned Musician
MBA (Strategic Career Composition)
Many years ago, Steward became aware of growing discord in his life as a lawyer and sought out ways of bringing harmony into his life. He discovered music and applied his razor sharp mind to cross-examining the works of great artists and then “pleasing the court” during his many performances. We rest our case. He also has a new Fringe show: My Joe Cocker

John-Paul Drake, Retail Mastermind, Drakes Supermarkets
MBA (Consumer Panic Management)
During the height of the Covid-19 restrictions, a handful of consumers besieged supermarkets, plundering supplies of toilet paper and other staples. As calm returned, some hoarders tried returning their stockpiles of poo paper but John-Paul Drake told them to stick it where it was meant to go. His strident calling-out of un-Australian behaviour is worthy of our award which we hope he will frame and hang in his executive restroom.

Tim Ferguson, Comedian and Writer
MBA (Laughter Creation Management)
From his zany and border-pushing comedy as part of the Doug Anthony Allstars, to his good-spirited ribbing of our Honorary Professor Glynn Nicholas, Tim has always applied strategic thinking to his comedy creation. He argues that comedy can be churned out mechanically, just as he now needs to churn through our city streets mechanically as he continues to “walk the talk” of living and laughing with MS. He also has a Fringe Show: Smashing Life (Motivation For Idiots)

Peter Goers, ABC Radio Personality and Raconteur
MBA (Strategic Hi Ho Management)
Peter Goers appears wherever there is a stage or microphone and we’ve allowed an extra 30 minutes for his arrival to collect his award. We’ll no doubt have our hall compared to a town hall from regional South Australia and the Professor will no doubt be compared (dubiously) to Dame Edna Everage, with whom Peter is on first name terms. His ‘strine-laced oratory has endeared him to the panel.

Ralf Hadzic, Owner, Case Syrah Syrah
MBA (Strategic Cat Taming)
Throughout a varied career, Ralf has progressed from being a television cat putting children to bed to a wine-drinking cat who waits until he is safely home and near bed before he pulls a cork. A great connector, Ralf has not only tamed cats but also herded them, no mean feat when some of the aforementioned cats have been paying guests under his care during illustrious wine tours.

Professor David Lloyd, Vice Chancellor, Uni SA
MBA (Collegiate Relations Management)
While Professor David Lloyd has little need of an MBA to add to his collection of letters, we are offering this in the spirit of collegiality, and to stay upon his radar so that he takes our call when we reach the point of needing to head hunt for new leaders.

Professor Flint, Singing Palaeontologist, Dinosaur University
MBA (Strategic Dinosaur Management)
Professor Flint from Dinosaur University is known as the singing palaeontologist and has been a guest lecuture at The MBA School Of MBA Credentials. His lecture was entitled: Embrace Your Inner Australovenator: How leaders can leverage stampede frenzy and lead their teams to the watering holes of success.

Paul Rees, Director, SA Maritime Museum, SA Motor Museum
MBA (Strategic Collections Management)
Paul Rees loves old bodies of all types, whether they are cars or boats. His passion for preserving and interpreting relics from the past has helped us see our way into the future. In many ways, his leadership of these two institutions have been like a couple of large and bright headlights pointing South Australia towards the future.

Katie Spain, Wine Whisperer
MBA (Strategic Wine Insights)
There is never a bottle of South Australian alcoholic beverage opened without Katie Spain being nearby to observe, taste, and then retell the story. Her caravan of love proceeds around the state, arriving strategically as milestones are reached and benchmarks are added to SA’s liquid history. Three cheers!

Professor Nicola Spurrier, Chief Public Health Officer
MBA (Strategic Expectation Management)
As the world has been grappling with Covid-19 and needing to develop responses on-the-run, Professor Nicola Spurrier has been at the forefront of not only managing lockdowns and new interpersonal protocols but also the expectations of a confused, scared, and bewildering populace.

Professor Colin Stirling, Vice Chancellor, Flinders University
MBA (Collegiate Relations Management)
While Professor Colin Stirling has little need of an MBA to add to his collection of letters, we are offering this in the spirit of collegiality, and to stay upon his radar so that he takes our call when we reach the point of needing to head hunt for new leaders.

Anna Thomas, Restaurateur, Treasury 1860
MBA (Strategic Table Management)
As a restaurateur operating throughout the year of Covid, 2020, Anna has had to apply much wisdom, wherewithal, and sheer bravery, to keep her doors open and tables turning at Treasury 1860. This adept and dogged commitment has caught the eye of our panel, especially because her appealling and easily-accessible wine cellar has been considered a strategic master stroke and found to be most pleasing when meetings at her establishment have dragged into the wee small hours.

David Washington, Editor, InDaily
MBA (Strategic Monopoly Management)
David has long been editor of InDaily, a minnow news organisation that has built itself into a credible and dynamic David against the monolithic giant known as Rupert Murdoch’s Advertiser. Always keen to roll the dice and speak truth to power, David has caused the sort of upheaval to daily political messaging management for State Government spin doctors akin to the scenes seen recently in the city that bears his surname, Washington DC.