Alumni profile

The Honourable Tony Sheehan is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Euro Pacific Strategies.

Tony is a member of the La Trobe commencing cohort and also founding member of the La Trobe University Football Club (LTUFC) . He was the 1973 Captain Coach of the All Australian Intervarsity Team, 1976 Premiership Captain Coach of the LTUFC, Captain Coach of the 1970’s Team of the Decade, and Playing Coach of the Team of the Half Century.

In 2019, Tony's devotion to the LTUFC was recognised when La Trobe's new state-of-the-art football oval - part of the University's $150 million Sports Park development - was named the Tony Sheehan Oval. 

Tony, who is the games record holder for the LTUFC, having played 321 senior games, said the oval dedication was humbling. 

"Sport at La Trobe has provided thousands of students with opportunities for athletic excellence, leadership, development of personal and professional skills and, life-long friendships," Tony said. 

"Many of our most outstanding graduates attribute much of their success to lessons learnt on the playing fields of La Trobe." 

"This honour belongs to all of those who have contributed so much to sport at La Trobe. Particularly those who wore the red and black stripes of the LTUFC and with whom I share decades of friendship and hundreds of games of collective endeavour." 

Tony said his time at La Trobe was "incredibly formative." 

“It was stimulating. It was a whole new world. The opportunities that opened – social, sporting (and) academic," he said. 

“It was a fairly defining time in Australian history the late ‘60s – changing of the old guard politically (and) changing of social mores.  

“The University gave you the opportunity to mix with academics and other students. In some ways, the small size meant that you practically knew everyone on campus, which in a way gave, perversely, greater diversity." 

Tony's economics studies at La Trobe contributed to shaping his political career in the Victorian and Federal governments.  

“My political interest was based on economics and economic policy. That was where the relationship between where I ended up and where I began," he said. 

"It shaped a lot of my political views for creating social change and advancement and also provided a sense of context for those social and financial policy of a government."

Tony was recognised with a La Trobe University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010. 

Distinguished Business and commerce

Last updated: 14th May 2019