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Chair – Mr Philip Clark AM
Mr Philip Clark was Managing Partner and CEO of Minter Ellison. Prior to joining Minter Ellison, he was Director and Head of Corporate with ABN Amro Australia and before that was Managing Partner of Mallesons Stephen Jaques.
Mr Clark is a member of the JP Morgan Advisory Council and serves on a number of boards and advisory boards. These include his position as a director and Chair of the Audit Committee of ING Management Limited, Chairman of M & K Lawyers Holdings Limited and Chairman of Advent Lawyers Holdings Pty Ltd, Chair of Aurora Projects Pty Ltd and Chair of Tasmanian Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Mr Clark is a director of St James Ethics Centre and serves on the Advisory Council of Europe Australia Business Council. He is also a director of several not-for profit foundations.
Mr Clark has bachelors degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney and an MBA from Columbia University. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2007 for service to the legal profession and business, particularly through the development of national law firms and encouraging corporate involvement in community programs.
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Emeritus Professor Denise Bradley AC
Professor Bradley has been extensively involved in national education for more than two decades. She was Chair of the Higher Education Review Panel which delivered the Review of Australian Higher Education report in December 2008. Professor Bradley was the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of South Australia (UniSA) from 1997 to 2007. She was also a member of a number of national policy groups including the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, the Higher Education Council of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training and the Australian Government’s 2002 Higher Education Review Reference Group.
Professor Bradley’s other significant roles have included the Foundation Director of the Australian Universities Quality Agency, President and Chair of IDP Australia Limited and member of the Board of Directors of the Business/ Higher Education Round Table.
Professor Bradley is currently Chair for both the Australian Health Workforce Advisory Council and the National Trade Cadetships Advisory Panel.
In 1995 Professor Bradley was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. In 2003 she was awarded a Centenary Medal. In 2005 she was named the South Australian of the Year for her significant contributions to the State. In 2006 Professor Bradley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Korea’s Pukyong National University and in 2007 was awarded Honorary Doctorates from UniSA and RMIT University. The honorary title of Emeritus Professor was conferred following her retirement from UniSA.
In 2008 Professor Bradley was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of her service to higher education through leadership and sector-wide governance, to the promotion of information‐based distance learning and to the advancement of Australian educational facilities internationally.
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Mr Philip Bullock
Mr Philip Bullock has more than 25 years experience working with IBM, culminating in his appointment as Vice President, Systems and Technology Group, IBM Asia Pacific Region. Prior to this he was CEO of IBM Australia and New Zealand.
In 2008 Mr Bullock was appointed as the Chair of Skills Australia. Skills Australia has been established by the Australian Government to provide expert and independent advice to the Minister on matters relating to Australia’s current, emerging and future workforce skills and workforce development needs.
Mr Bullock also served on the Board of the Australian Information Industry Association, the Business Council of Australia, where he also chaired their Skills and Innovation Taskforce, the Victorian Schools Innovation Commission and the Advisory Committee to the Australian Graduate School of Management. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Healthscope Limited, a major provider of health services in Australia and also CSG Limited, a leading provider of ICT services in Australia and New Zealand.
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Dr Cherrell Hirst AO
Dr Cherrell Hirst is a medical doctor and was a leading practitioner in the area of breast cancer screening and diagnosis. She was Queenslander of the Year in 1995 and is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Hirst is a director of Avant Mutual Group, Medibank Private Ltd , ImpediMed Ltd Tissue Therapies Ltd and is Deputy Chairman and CEO of Queensland BioCapital Funds Pty Ltd. She was a director of Suncorp Metway from 2002-2010.
Dr Hirst was Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology from 1994 to 2004 and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Brisbane Girls Grammar School from 1996 to 2006. She is a member of Queensland’s Smart State Council and is a Director of Opera Queensland Limited, a not-for-profit organisation.
Dr Hirst was awarded the Centenary Medal for distinguished service to education and medicine, and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1998 for service to education as Chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology, and to medicine, in particular women's health through the promotion of mammographic screening for the early detection of breast cancer.
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Mr John Ryan PSM
Mr John Ryan is currently the Executive Director of Cloon Economics. He has previously been a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Resources Energy and Tourism, Commissioner for the Australian Energy Market Commission, head of the Canberra Office of the Allen Consulting Group, head of the Science Industry Policy Division of the Department of Industry, Science and Research, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Industry Economics and project director at the Industries Assistance Commission.
Mr Ryan is the inaugural Chair of the National Research Infrastructure Council (NRIC). The role of the NRIC is to provide strategic advice to the Government on future research infrastructure investments and to facilitate coordination across different levels of investment in research infrastructure. John is also a board member of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. He was a member of the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagship Program Investment Assessment Panel and a member of the Renewable Energy Development Fund Committee.
Mr Ryan has a wide experience in the practical application of economic analysis, particularly in the determination of public and private benefits. He has been a senior adviser to Governments on technology development and investment in the manufacturing, resources and energy sectors. He received his public service medal for his work on the Prime Minister’s Task Force into Development of Uranium Mining and Nuclear Energy in Australia. Mr Ryan holds a Bachelor of Economics (Monash) and a Master of Economics (ANU).
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Professor Margaret Seares AO
Professor Margaret Seares retired from the position of Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor at The University of Western Australia (UWA) at the end of 2008 and now works as a consultant. Within the UWA she had line management responsibility for all the Faculties, and additional policy responsibility for Human Resource and Community Outreach.
Professor Seares holds a PhD from UWA in Music. From 1991-1995 she was Head of the School of Music, and Deputy Chair of the Academic Board at UWA, and from 1994-5 she was a member of the University Senate, the governing body.
In 1995 Professor Seares accepted a two-year secondment to the position of CEO with the West Australian Department for the Arts (now the Department of Culture & the Arts). During this time she was a member of the boards of the Western Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of WA, the Perth Theatre Trust, Opera Australia, and of the Advisory Board of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
In 1997 Professor Seares was appointed to a 4-year term as Chair of the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory agency. She has also completed terms as a member of the National Australia Day Council, the Board of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, the Australia-Japan Foundation, the Expert Advisory Committee for Humanities and Creative Arts for the Australian Research Council, and the Australian Research Council’s Advisory Council. In 2006 Professor Seares chaired the National Review of Music Education.
Professor Seares is currently a member of the National Research Infrastructure Committee, the Creative Industries Innovation Centre, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the ARC Centre for Creative Industries, the Perth International Arts Festival, and the Council of Scotch College (WA).
In 2003 Professor Seares was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her work for the arts and education.
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Dr Don Russell PhD CFA
Secretary of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (ex-officio)
Dr Russell was appointed as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research on 20 June 2011.
More information can be found on the DIISR Secretary's Website.
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Professor Ian Chubb AC
Chief Scientist for Australia (ex-officio)
Professor Chubb was appointed as Chief Scientist for Australia on 19 April 2011 and commenced the role on 23 May 2011.
More information can be found on the Australian Chief Scientist’s Website.
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