Sydney, Monday 25 July 2022: The Ramsay Centre warmly congratulates Centre Director Elizabeth Stone on her ground-breaking, inspirational appointment as Head of one of the UK’s most famous and prestigious schools, Winchester College – the first ever female Head in its 640-year history.

Ms Stone is currently Principal of Queenwood School for Girls, Sydney and has served on the Ramsay Centre Board since 2017.

Winchester College was founded in 1382 as a boys’ boarding school and has the longest continuous history of any English school. One of the last four all-boys boarding schools in the UK, it was founded by William of Wykeham, who was Chancellor of England and Bishop of Winchester.

The school has a distinguished record of academic achievement and severable notable alumni, including current UK parliamentarian Rishi Sunak, a leading contender to succeed Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister.

Ms Stone will begin her role in July 2023 and lead the school through a significant transformation, with girls to be introduced to the College for the first time.

Announcing Ms Stone’s appointment, Queenwood Chair and fellow Ramsay Director, Dr Amanda Bell AM, said the appointment was an achievement for women’s leadership. 

“It is of great importance for education globally and heralds a change in the traditional ideas that have shaped school and female leadership in this sector. In this regard, Elizabeth is an exceptional role model not only for our Queenwood girls and staff but for girls and women in general.”

Ramsay Centre CEO Professor Simon Haines said the Centre has benefited immeasurably from Ms Stone’s counsel, as well as her service on the Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarship selection panel.

“Our next generation of leaders will be inspired by her remarkable leadership in education,” Professor Haines said.

Following her undergraduate degree, Ms Stone worked in the NSW Supreme Court and as an academic specialising in commercial contract law. She took up a Rhodes Scholarship in 1998 and completed her Master’s at University College, Oxford.

She later moved into teaching and taught Mathematics first in Sydney and then in the UK. There she was the first woman appointed to a senior management position at Winchester College and later became Vice Principal at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. She returned to Australia in 2014 to take up the Queenwood Principal role.

Media contact: Sarah Switzer 0407 816 098/ sarah.switzer@ramsaycentre.org

For more information on the centre please visit our website: www.ramsaycentre.org