Adam Spencer

Adam Spencer
Birth name	Adam Barrington Spencer
Born	27 January 1969 (1969-01-27) (age 43) Sydney
Show	702 Breakfast
Station(s)	702 ABC Sydney
Network	ABC Local Radio
Time slot	5:30am – 7:45am
Country	Australia
Previous show(s)	Triple J Breakfast (1999–2004)
Website	http://adamspencer.com.au http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/702_breakfast/

Adam Barrington Spencer (born 27 January 1969, in Sydney) is an Australian radio presenter, comedian, and media personality. He first came to fame when he won his round of the comedic talent search Raw Comedy in the mid-1990s. Soon thereafter, he began working at Triple J, on mid-dawn and drive shifts before hosting the Triple J Breakfast Show with Wil Anderson.

He is a patron of various science-related events and programs, including the University of Sydney's Eureka Prize, a "lateral-thinking" science prize. He is also a member of the Sleek Geek Week tour along with Karl Kruszelnicki, as well as performing his own stand up comedy at events around the country.

Personal life

Spencer grew up in the Hunters Hill/Gladesville area of Sydney.

Spencer was born without the muscle levator palpebrae superioris in his right upper eyelid, leading to permanent ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid) and noticeable facial asymmetry. He later received a transplant from a deceased motorcyclist in an operation performed by eye surgeon Fred Hollows, allowing him to "open" that eye. His vision is normal.^{[citation needed]}

On the final day of his breakfast show in 2004, he announced that his partner Mel was pregnant and that the next year he would be leaving his media career to become a full-time dad, although he returned within 2 years to present another breakfast radio show. He married Mel on 28 January 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Education

Spencer attended St Aloysius' College in Sydney, and was a vice-captain of the College and Captain of the Australian Schools Debating Team. He attended school with Federal MP Joe Hockey.

He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science with first class honours in pure mathematics in 1991. While at university, he was one of the world's top-ranked debaters, reaching the final round of the World Universities Debating Championship three times (1990, 1992, 1996) and winning Worlds Best Speaker (1996). He also won the Australasian Debating Championship twice (1988, 1990). He was also President of the University of Sydney Union.

Service

He is the coach of the University of Sydney second grade women's football team.

Since December 2001, he has been a Fellow of the University Senate. He had also previously served a term from 1992 to 1995. He is a member of the NSW Premier's Advisory Committee on Greenhouse and Global Warming and the NSW Health Department's Clinical Ethics Review Committee.

Charity

Spencer regularly promotes the work of Redkite, Unifem and Kids For Life and is an Ambassador for the The Fred Hollows Foundation. Spencer has also made appearances at the Wave Aid concert in Sydney in 2004, the Australian leg of Live Earth in 2007 and the Sound Relief concert in Sydney in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Media career

He won the Triple J Raw Comedy Championship in 1996.

Television

Adam Spencer has been a host of ABC science shows Quantum, FAQ and Sleek Geeks. In 2005, Spencer hosted Australia's first poker TV show, Joker Poker, on the Ten Network.

Quantum (1998–2001) – ABC1 FAQ (1998–2001) -ABC1 Hit & Run (2003) – The Comedy Channel Joker Poker (2005) – Channel Ten Sleek Geeks (2008 and 2010) – ABC1 Good News Week (2009) – Channel Ten ANZ Championship (Festival of the Stars) (2009) – Channel Ten

Radio

From 1999, and joined in 2000 by Wil Anderson, Spencer hosted Triple J's breakfast show, before they both retired from the show in 2004. On 20 February 2006, he began presenting Breakfast on 702 ABC Sydney replacing Angela Catterns. Spencer previousally hosted the "Smile High Club" radio show programme on Qantas Airlines radio channel, Q.

Controversy

In July 2011 Adam Spencer interviewed climate change sceptic Christopher Monckton. During the heated interview Spencer hung up on Monckton.

External links

• Adam Spencer's Website
• Sydney Morning Herald