The Australian Board of Vellore Christian College and Hospital celebrated it’s 50th anniversary in 1996. The Board was established on 10th July 1956 at the request of Dr. John S. Carman, the Director of CMC&H at that time, to co-ordinate the activities of the various state branches of Friends of Vellore. For many years the board was based around the Sydney Friends of Vellore. Over the years, the Board has evolved into a truly national organisation with representation from various states of the country.
The Annual General Body meeting of the Board is held at different capital cities of the states in rotation. Delegates from the various state groups of Friend of Vellore and Alumni attend the meeting to discuss the activities of the board. The executive is elected from among the delegates. Last year the AGM was at Brisbane in October 2022. This year we were planning to have it in in Adelaide. We hope Dr. Vikram Mathews the Director of CMC will be able to attend the meeting.
The Directors
2022 -23
President: Dr. Stephen Aseervatham
Stephen is a Vellore graduate ( batch of 61) and has been involved with the board, NSW FOV and Australian Alumni Association for many years. He served one term as the Board’s secretary and later took over the position as the publicity officer and managing the web site, for almost 10 years. He was the Vice President for 3 years and was elected as the president in 2017. He is a retired anaesthetist and lives with his wife Vimalini, a retired GP, in Newcastle. They enjoy travelling and whatever time they could spend with their grandchildren.
Vice President: Dr. Mahiban Thomas
Mahiban belongs to the CMC undergraduate batch of 1981. He dis his Post graduate surgical training at CMC and worked in mission hospitals before migrating to Australia. He did further surgical training over here. At present he is the head of the Maxillary Facial and Head and Neck surgery at Darwin hospital. He is also in charge of the surgical services for the Northern Territory. His wife Dr. Sujatha also belongs the same batch and is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Mahiban is the current president of the Australasian CMC Alumni Association. He maintains a very close clinical relationship with his alma mater.
Secretary – Prof. David Runia
David Runia retired as the Master of Queen?s College at the University of Melbourne at the end of 2016. While he was the Master, he learnt about the work of the CMC, with which his College has had a long-standing relationship since the days of Dr Edward Gault. He visited Vellore in 2014 and again in January 2020 when he attended the college council meeting. he is also the president of the Victorian FOV. David is an academic and remains active in research on ancient philosophy, with a particular interesting the Jewish philosopher who lived at the same time as Jesus, Philo of Alexandria. He is married to Gonni, and they have a daughter living in Amsterdam and two sons living in Melbourne. David and Gonni are of Dutch descent and lived in the Netherlands for 25 years before returning to Australia in 2002.
Treasurer: Mr. Richard Caitens
Richard Caitens has been the treasurer of the board since 1998. He has been involved with the Queensland FOV for a long period and has been their treasurer, up till now. He is a charted accountant by profession. His wife Susanna is a teacher and they have 3 children – 2 girls and a boy. Richard visited Vellore for the first time few years ago representing the Board at the council meeting.
Publicity Officer : Dr. Sharon Thomas
Sharon is a CMC alumnus belonging to the batch of 1984. She did her diploma in Ob and Gyn and later obtained the Fellowship of the Australian College of General Practitioner. She has been working on the Gold Coast, Queensland since 2004. Her special interest are in women’s health and chronic diseases. He husband Dr. Koshy George is a neurologist in Gold Coast region. They have three grown up daughters. Sharon is the current president of the Queensland FOV.