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Alumnae Stories
STORIES
Susan M Scott (1975)
A trailblazer for women in science, Distinguished Professor Susan Scott is a multi-award-winning world leader in the fields of general relativity, gravitational singularities and black holes.
She is the first female physicist to win the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science – Australia’s top prize for science – for her role in the ground-breaking detection of gravitational waves first proposed by Albert Einstein.
Susan attended MLC from Years 7 – 12 and was dux of both maths and science in her final year. She completed a Bachelor of Science (Hons) at Monash University, followed by a PhD in mathematical physics at the University of Adelaide. She was then awarded a Rhodes Fellowship to the University of Oxford, where she worked closely with Nobel Laureate, Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS on various projects in the field of cosmology.
“I was fortunate, during my years in Oxford, to be a member of the Senior Common Room at Somerville College. Like MLC, this all-women’s environment helped give me the self-belief that I could do anything I put my mind to, even in disciplines where there were very few women,” Susan says. Susan returned to Australia and became the first female professor of physics at ANU in 2009. She was inducted as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2016 and was the second woman to be awarded the international Dirac Medal for the Advancement of Theoretical Physics in 2020. Susan is a passionate advocate for girls in STEM.
“MLC’s amazing science teachers and outstanding facilities and programs cemented my desire to pursue a career in science. ‘Follow your dreams’ was the message at MLC. There was never a thought that I couldn’t pursue science and maths because I was a girl.” A recent highlight for Susan was the opportunity to spend a month in Antarctica with a team of female scientists as part of the international Homeward Bound leadership program.
Susan has two daughters, both of whom are at university.
Felicity Gardam (Dendle 2001) and Brodie Mattner (Flint 2001)
When Brodie and Felicity became best friends in Year 11 Drama, they couldn’t have known they were destined to give birth in adjoining rooms at the same hospital. Twentyone years later, that’s exactly what happened. Their firm bond saw them laugh, cry and support each other through their lockdown pregnancies until the day they welcomed newborns within six hours of each other: Brodie’s second child, a girl named Juniper, and Felicity’s first baby, a boy called Rex.
Both Brodie and Felicity look back at their final year at MLC with great fondness. Felicity remembers the sense of independence she felt spending time in the Art Rooms, unleashing her creativity with her peers. She felt empowered to challenge herself and explore her potential. Now as a teacher and in a position of leadership in girls’ education, Felicity strives to do the same for her own students. Brodie cites her Year 12 Art Tour as a pivotal moment in her formative years. She says MLC gave her opportunities to explore her interest in drama, performance and music. The common room was a haven for Brodie, where endless hours chatting and singing cemented precious friendships that have outlasted time and distance.
Shaleen Dean-Hinduja (Hinduja 2006)
After leaving MLC, Shaleen completed a Bachelor of Arts at the ANU and a Juris Doctor at UNSW, before commencing a career in risk management and compliance. After internships in risk management with the United Nations in Japan and Thailand and a stint at a Royal Commission, Shaleen worked at ANZ in their Regulatory Reform Markets team for two and a half years. She moved to Singapore in 2018 to work at Standard Chartered Bank in their Financial Markets Compliance team where she is currently based and working on digital assets/cryptocurrency among other things.
Shaleen is passionate about giving back and volunteers regularly with organisations in Singapore. She is an Alumni Mentor at UNSW and an iTrack Mentor with the Smith Family. Shaleen’s fondest memory of MLC was being selected to participate in YMCA Victoria’s Youth Parliament, where she had tea with former Premier Jeff Kennett and participated in mock question time at Parliament House. She credits this experience for influencing her love of politics.
Samari Jayarajah (1996)
Samari credits MLC with ingraining her sense of feminism and social justice. Reflecting these values, her wide and varied medical career has allowed her to advocate for society’s most vulnerable.
After leaving MLC, Samari completed a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery (Honours) at Monash University, interning at The Alfred Hospital. Working and travelling around the UK and Europe, Samari spent a summer studying international politics, literature and art history at Cambridge University and worked as a doctor in London. Returning to Melbourne, Samari turned her focus to the field of psychiatry and completed a Master of Psychological Medicine while working back at The Alfred. She attained Fellowship of The Royal Australian and Zealand College of Psychiatrists and Associate Fellowship of The Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators. She worked in various fields including addiction and perinatal psychiatry. Today, Samari is a consultant psychiatrist at The Alfred, educational consultant and presiding member on medical panels relating to personal injury and workcover. She also sits on a medical advisory board, steering telehealth solutions for psychiatric patients.
Samari is married, has two young daughters (aged three and one) and is stepmother to two teenagers. She treasures her memories from MLC, in particular MLC Marshmead, the diversity of subject choices, the encouraging all-girl environment and the longstanding friendships she continues to have today.
