Stephen Gerlach


Stephen Gerlach AO is a lawyer, company director, corporate advisor and the Chancellor of Flinders University in South Australia. He is a former chairman of oil and gas company Santos Limited and former managing partner of legal firm, Finlaysons.

Career

Gerlach studied at the University of Adelaide where he obtained a law degree. Gerlach worked at legal firm Finlaysons in Adelaide for 23 years, during which he held the position of Managing Partner from 1985 to 1991.
He has acted as Chairman of numerous publicly listed companies, including Equatorial Mining Ltd, Elders Australia Ltd, Challenger Listed Investments Limited, Amdel Ltd and Penrice Ltd. He held directors' positions on further public companies including Southcorp Ltd, Elders Rural Bank and Brunner Mond Holdings Ltd.
He was Chairman of Santos Ltd from 2001 until 2009, and was Chairman of Elders Ltd until December 2010.
Gerlach was appointed Chancellor of Flinders University in 2010. Gerlach replaced former South Australian Governor Sir Eric Neal in the role.

Honours

In 2009, Gerlach was awarded Member of the Order of Australia "for service to the provision of social welfare programs through Foodbank South Australia, and to the community."