Keith's Citation:
Keith was born in Mentone in 1951, attended Mentone Grammar and then studied electrical engineering at RMIT. He joined the family firm of Callinan & Newton, patent and trade mark attorneys, In 1975 he was registered as a patent and trade mark attorney, and became a partner in the practice and sole proprietor in 1978. In 1994 he moved to help establish Freehills Patent Attorneys.
In 2000, Keith and Trudi relocated to Singapore to continue working for Freehills, and later moved to Marks & Clerk Patent Attorneys there. In 2009 they returned to Melbourne for family reasons. Keith spent two years living in Melbourne but commuted to Singapore every other week. Later it became one week a month. In 2011 he founded the Melbourne office of Marks & Clerk as managing partner. Having recruited and trained his successor, Keith retired in February 2013.
In 1980, at age 29, Keith was inducted into the Rotary Club of Richmond, where he had various roles including President in 1993-94. He was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow by the Club in 1994. He still laments being on business overseas at the time of the RI Convention in Melbourne in 1993.
During his time in Singapore, Keith was a member of the Rotary Club of Singapore, then having about 140 members. He served on the Board for two years including one as Director International Service, winning the District prize for Best International Project – cataract and reconstructive dental surgery in India, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines. He also served a year as Secretary.
In 2012, Keith joined the Rotary Club of Melbourne and has been active on the International Programs Committee, the Reception Committee and the Membership Engagement Committee. He is also an enthusiastic member of the Hawthorn-Kew Group. Keith currently chairs the Health and Ageing Committee and is responsible for all the citations produced for honouring Club members (except this one!). There is no more succinct, accurate and efficient a writer than Trade Mark Attorney Keith.
In 2015, Keith was awarded the Club’s Royce Abbey Award and was the Club’s Honorary Secretary for 3½ years ending his term prematurely last December due to advancing Parkinson’s disease. As Secretary Keith kept a low but ever diligent profile, quietly ensuring all formalities were attended to in good time. His opinions and advice were measured and reliable and Members of the Board attest to the quality of his contribution.
With seven years at Rotary Melbourne, nine at Singapore and 20 at Richmond, Keith has been an active and committed Rotarian for over 35 years. Keith is dependable and highly committed. He stands by our motto Service above self. For over half his life Keith has unselfishly dedicated himself to the service of others. He is an exemplary Rotarian and we of the Rotary Club of Melbourne are pleased to honour him as a Paul Harris Fellow.
