. . .
Frank McKeown
President
Frank grew up in Queensland where his early career was in soil conservation and sustainable land use. He changed direction and has been an organisational consultant for the past 25 years, specialising in major change initiatives, mainly with mid-sized and large corporations. He is a published author and has taught at Masters’ degree level in his field.
In 2004, after 15 years of living in the USA and working in many different countries, Frank returned to Australia. He has been the Foundation’s consultant since the HSPRF formed in 2005, and its President since October 2009.
Frank enjoys everything outdoors, and anything involving either a ball or the water. He gained level II qualifications in Sports Medicine during his competitive sporting days, and this fuels his interest in how HSPers can maintain and manage their mobility. He has a very dear and long-time friend who has HSP.
. . .
Robin Bligh
Vice-President (Inaugural President 2005)
Robin and his wife, Jan, have 3 sons and 5 grandchildren. Robin’s interests are family, HSP solutions, investing and golf. After graduating in Agricultural Science from the University of Queensland, Robin commenced a corporate career which included 6 years as CEO of Coopers (animal health) and concluded in Chicago as a Vice-President. Upon return to Australia he became the Government appointed Chairman of the Meat Research Corporation and then Chairman of the 18 member Meat Industry Council which led the meat industry plan development and subsequent change. At the same time he owned and managed a 100 hectare cattle property in the Gloucester district of NSW.
On learning the cause of his new daughter-in-law’s unusual gait, he developed a keen interest in HSP and what was and was not being done to find solutions. With the help and encouragement of specialists connected with Sydney and Melbourne Universities, he founded the HSP Research Foundation and is the inaugural President.
. . .
Steve Lunn
Treasurer
Steve has lived in the Lake Macquarie area all of his life. He has three daughters between 19yrs and 28yrs of age.
Steve worked in the underground coal mining industry for 22yrs, firstly as a trainee surveyor, then after gaining surveyor’s certificate he worked for a short time as a colliery surveyor. At the age of 25 Steve changed his career path and studied mining. He became a mine undermanager, a position he held for 15 yrs before being forced from the industry with HSP.
Steve then started a business from home, working with his wife Robyn, doing architectural and survey drafting. Now being retired, Steve has a strong interest in investing and is on the board of a private investment company.
. . .
Ken Price
Committee Member
Ken is employed by the Commonwealth Bank as an Executive Manager in its national Audit and Assurance division. He holds an Accountancy degree from the Queensland Institute of Technology and completed an MBA through the UNSW. Ken is married to Helen and they have 3 adult sons.
Ken was diagnosed with HSP after his GP noticed an unusual gait during a cricket game their sons were competing in. On this revelation, Ken then realised that a number of his late father’s family were similarly afflicted as was his father.
Ken’s interests are his family and he has adopted a ‘never say die’ approach to HSP by continuing to play competitive tennis and regularly runs to keep fit and healthy. He has completed a number of half marathons and plans to continue as an annual undertaking at the Gold Coast Marathon each year. Other interests include reading and travelling.
. . .
Tim Xiros
Committee Member
Tim is a civil engineer with over 10 years experience in the design, construction and project management of large infrastructure projects. After graduating from the University of Technology, Sydney, Tim has consulted to both the private and public sectors in the areas of transport planning, stakeholder management and contract administration.
Tim has a family association with HSP and is a founding committee member of the Foundation. In his last role as fundraising coordinator, he identified and targeted philanthropic organisations that grant funding for medical research. He was also successful in obtaining state fundraising licenses for the Foundation, enabling on-line donations to be received from the public via websites such as Everyday Hero and Our Community.
As a progressive disorder, Tim understands that maintaining an active lifestyle is essential to delaying the onset of HSP. To achieve this he balances his work commitments, by swimming and weight training at regular intervals.
. . .
Chris Hall
Committee Member
Chris has had over forty-two years employment in the New South Wales public sector, and had casework, staff training and managerial experience in the child protection industry for over thirty-two years in Sydney. Chris is married to Wendy and has four adult daughters and three grand-children, and Chris and Wendy have resided at Emu Plains for over thirty-two years.
Chris is one of seven children and he was diagnosed with HSP in 2000, although at that time, he was quite physically active with sport, especially hockey, which he had played for thirty years. Despite hoping and believing he would be playing hockey at Master’s level in his 60’s and 70’s, this activity stopped in 2004. However, Chris has remained active and was able to walk the City-to-Surf in 2009 and 2010 to raise funds for the HSPRF. Chris has other interests such as native plants/gardening, cooking, travelling, photography and is a little obsessive with collection of blues and roots, alt/country and folk music.
Chris has completed various exercise programs and will be introducing swimming and cycling as part of his training. Chris uses a walking stick for balance and a walking frame for longer distance walking and will need to assess travel scooters in the near future.
Chris could not identify any family members on paternal or maternal side of his family with HSP. Unfortunately, his youngest daughter, Bronwyn who is thirty-one years of age, was diagnosed with HSP in May 2011.