The 2024 Perelberg Award has been presented to an Old Scotch Collegian described by the Principal, Dr Scott Marsh, as ‘a great ambassador not only for Scotch, but also for our country’.
This year’s Perelberg Award winner is Dr Oliver Cronin (’02), an early-career clinician-researcher and an advanced endoscopist/gastroenterologist. His expertise lies in the early detection and curative resection of colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in Australia. Dr Cronin received his award at the 2024 Year 12 Presentation Night in the Memorial Hall on 17 October.
After attending Scotch, Dr Cronin earned his medical degree from James Cook University with high distinction. He went on to specialise as a gastroenterologist, training at the major Melbourne teaching hospitals. Dr Cronin was then selected for a prestigious two-year Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship at Westmead Hospital where he gained a wealth of experience in minimally invasive endoscopic resection techniques for the curative resection of GI cancers. Westmead is a world leader in these techniques.
Dr Cronin is completing a PhD with the University of Sydney for which he was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council postgraduate scholarship.
In 2023, Dr Cronin was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, often referred to as ‘the American Rhodes Scholarship’. This allowed Dr Cronin to work at a world-leading endoscopy centre in New York. He currently works as an advanced endoscopist and gastroenterologist at the Alfred, the Northern, and Epworth Hospitals.
Dr Cronin has authored over 60 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has presented his work at numerous local and international conferences. He divides his time between clinical work and research and teaching, and is also committed to servicing regional Australia, providing his gastroenterology services in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Dr Cronin is actively involved in teaching medical and nursing students as well as physician trainees.
Outside of work, Dr Cronin enjoys spending quality time at Point Lonsdale with his wife and three children. He is a keen runner and has completed more than 15 marathons and two ironman
triathlons.
Responding after receiving the award from Dr Marsh, Dr Cronin said he was ‘deeply humbled and honoured to receive this esteemed award’. He thanked the Perelberg family for establishing the award in loving memory of Ashley Perelberg.
The Perelberg Award is presented annually for ‘exemplary Scotch Spirit’. It is awarded in alternate years to either an Old Scotch Collegian or to a student who is currently completing his VCE. The award honours the memory of Ashley Perelberg, a member of the Class of 1992 who died suddenly during his first year of university studies. This year the award has been presented to an Old Scotch Collegian.
Ashley’s family created a perpetual memorial and presented a magnificent silver trophy depicting the penguin parade at Phillip Island, inspired by Ashley’s devotion to the annual Scotch-at-Cowes summer camps. The trophy is normally displayed in the Keon-Cohen Dining Hall, for Scotch boys to see every day. Each year the award winner receives a splendid silver replica.
Ashley Perelberg had a full and enthusiastic life at Scotch, and exemplified Scotch Spirit in every way. This award very much captures the essence of Scotch Spirit – championing progress, inspired by our past, and advancing learning that appreciates beauty, pursues goodness and discerns truth. All these qualities are very much in evidence in the work and the life of the 2024 Perelberg Award winner, Dr Oliver Cronin.
