Biographies of Council Members

as at 16 October 2009m

[In alphabetical order by surname]

NORMAN ROSS ADLER, AC, BCom (Melb), MBA (Columbia)

Mr Ross Adler was the Managing Director of Santos Limited for 16 years until his retirement in September 2000. In October 2001 he acquired Amtrade International Pty Ltd and was appointed Chairman and CEO. He was educated in Melbourne and in the United States where he completed a Master of Business Administration at Columbia University, New York. He has had an extremely successful career in business, holding senior positions with Brown and Dureau Ltd, Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd (now Amcor Ltd) and of course Santos Ltd. He has been a Director and Chairman of the MFP Development Corporation and the MFP International Advisory Board; he was a Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia from 1991 to November 2004, and was Chairman of Austrade (the Australian Trade Commission) from May 2001 to June 2006.

He was a Director of Telstra Corporation Ltd and from 1995 - 2000 and was a former Presiding Member of the Selection Committee of the Australian Wheat Board and a former Chair and member of the Queensland Sugar Corporation Selection Committee. Mr Adler was also a Member of the Business Council of Australia for nearly 20 years, a Member of the Board of the Australian Institute of Petroleum, a Member of the Corporations and Securities Panel and a Member of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Labour Studies. He was Chairman of the Board of the Art Gallery of South Australia for 10 years.

He has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Adelaide Festival of Arts and is now Chairman, as Chair of the Arts and Cultural Development Taskforce SA, as a member of the Board of Governors of the State Theatre Company, and as Deputy Chairman of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Mr Adler has served the University as Chair of the Graduate School of Management's Advisory Committee, and was the Vice-Patron of the former Alumni Association. He is the current Chair of the University's Finance Committee and was declared elected Deputy Chancellor for a term of two years from 7 March 2007 to 6 March 2009.

Carolyn Anderson is a law graduate of the University of Adelaide and has practised as a legal practitioner since 1988 both in the private and public sectors, specialising in commercial, telecommunications and intellectual property law.

She is currently employed by the Department for Further Education, Employment Science and Technology and holds the position of Director, Information Economy. In that role she leads and supports government activities relating to the information economy in a number of policy areas including ICT infrastructure, all aspects of broadband telecommunications; online technologies, e-content and digital intensive industries; e-government; ICT related research; e-skills, e-learning, e-business and digital social inclusion.

Carolyn currently sits as the nominated representative of the Minister for Science and Information Economy on the boards of Playford Capital Pty Ltd, Playford Centre, and SABRENet Ltd. She also is a member of the Advisory Board for the Institute of Telecommunications Research at the University of South Australia and eResearchSA.

Carolyn has a long standing involvement with St. Ann's College, a university residential college affiliated with the University of Adelaide and is currently a member of St. Ann's College Council and Chairman of the Executive and Finance Committee of the College Council.

Carolyn is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Mr Charles Bagot is a commercial lawyer and company director. He practices in commercial and corporate law as a partner of Piper Alderman Lawyers and is National Head of that firm's Corporate Division. He is a graduate of the University of Adelaide and has also completed a business course at the Stanford Business School. Charles is a director of a number of companies including ASC Pty Ltd, which has been named as the Commonwealth of Australia's preferred shipbuilder for the $6 billion Air Warfare Destroyer project.

Ms Kate Castine set up her own education consultancy after a successful career in the Department of Education and Children's Services as Principal of three large metropolitan high schools, as Acting Superintendent for ten schools and as Acting Superintendent Curriculum for the Department of Education. Under her leadership Marryatville High School won an SA Great Award for Music, was identified as one of Australia's leading schools by the Australian newspaper and gained international accreditation. Ms Castine is a Fellow of the Australian College of Education. Ms Castine has been a member of the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia and a member of St Marks's College Council. Passionate about education, Ms Castine has been an international marketer representing the State in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Korea and China. She has established links and exchanges with numerous schools overseas and setup a large international program in two schools. She has worked in Papua New Guinea in curriculum writing, undertaken evaluations in schools and coordinated national projects in Career and Enterprise Education.

Ms Castine is currently working with the Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC) to write modules to train school leaders across Australia.

Elected by the Postgraduate Students for a term from 6 March 2009 to 5 March 2010.

Dr Rod Crewther is a former Head of the Department of Physics and Mathematical Physics, and has been a member of staff since 1985. He chaired the University Entry Committee as Convenor or Deputy Convenor from 1990 until 1998, and was a member of the Board of SSABSA from 1991 to 2000. Rod graduated from the University of Melbourne with B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics, and from the California Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics. There followed postdoctoral appointments at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. Subsequently, he spent twelve years in Europe, six of them as a Staff Member of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, and the remainder as a Research Associate at the Universities of Berne and Dortmund and at the Max Planck Institute in Munich. Rod is once again President of the local NTEU Branch. In what spare time remains, he enjoys playing classical piano.

Dianne Davidson is a qualified agricultural scientist, viticulturalist and founder and Managing Director of Davidson Vineyard Management Pty Ltd. She has been working in the Australian Wine Industry since 1975. She is widely recognised as one of Australia's most experienced wine grape advisors due to her work in all wine grape regions in Australia as well as in South Africa and New Zealand. Her practical and pragmatic approach to business management and problem solving is a key to her success. Davidson Vineyard Management Pty Ltd consults widely to grape producers and also manages large plantings of winegrape vineyards for a number of clients. Dianne also owns and manages her own properties in the Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek wine growing regions of Australia.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology. She was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal, an acknowledgement of her contributions to best practice in the Australian Wine Industry.

She is an active participant in Industry affairs and is keenly interested in educational issues for agriculturalists and specifically for wine industry participants. She has presented many seminars, workshops and lectures throughout her career and authored many papers. She has also published two text books, A Guide to Growing Wine Grapes in Australia and The Business of Vineyards.

Christopher Findlay took up the position of Professor of Economics and Head of School at the University of Adelaide in November 2005. Prior to that, he was Professor of Economics in the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University.

Australia's economic relations with Asia are the theme of his research. A special interest is the reform and industrialisation of the Chinese economy. Professor Findlay has been especially involved in research on the textiles, steel and air transport industries in East Asia and on the implications of developments in those industries for Australia.

Since 2000, Professor Findlay has been a principal researcher in a series of major ARC-funded research projects on impediments to services trade and investment.

Professor Findlay has acted as consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Ausaid and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

His recent publications include:

• 'Transport Services', Chapter 9 in A Handbook of International Trade in Services, edited by Aaditya Mattoo, Robert M. Stern, and Gianni Zanini, Oxford University Press, 2008
• "The widening agenda of cooperation for Regional Economic Integration", ch. 25 in Hadi Soeasastro and Clara Joewono (eds), The Inclusive Regionalist: A Festchrift dedicated to Jusuf Wanandi, CSIS, Jakarta, 2007.
• 'The three pillars of stagnation: challenges for air transport reform', World Trade Review, 2006, 5(2), 251-270 (with David Round)
• 'Measuring the effects of food safety standards on China's Agricultural Exports', Review of World Economics, 144 (1), 2008 (with Chunlai Chen and Jun Yang)

Professor Findlay has a PhD and MEc from the ANU and an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide. He became a Member of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2002 and a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2007.

Professor Findlay is the Presiding Member and Chair of the Academic Board.

Sam is currently in his fourth year of the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree at The University of Adelaide. After growing up and completing year 12 in Canberra, Sam moved to Adelaide to study medicine and resided at St Mark's College in North Adelaide for his first three years.

Sam has been involved in student politics and advocacy throughout his medical course. He is a past Board Director of the Adelaide University Union and currently holds the position of Senior Education Coordinator/Representative on the Adelaide Medical Students' Society committee and is a member of the MBBS Program's Curriculum Committee and Assessment Committee.

Mr Ian Kowalick is a director and consultant. He has had senior management experience in both the private and public sectors and was the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet from 1995 to 2000. From 1997 to 2000 he was also the Commissioner for Public Employment. Ian Kowalick is the Chair of the State Opera of SA, the Playford Centre and Playford Capital Ltd, a Director of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group, a Director of the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and a Director of a small resources company, Arafura Resources NL.

He has served on a number of boards and committees of public corporations, or institutions, such as the Advisory Council of the CSIRO, the CSIRO Institute of Information Sciences and Engineering Advisory Council, the Technology Development Corporation and various university committees. He chaired the SA Government's Biotechnology Industry Advisory Council in 2002.

Ian Kowalick has been involved over many years in activities to promote the development of new technology based industries and a venture capital market in SA. He was the Managing Director of Samic Ltd, one of the early attempts to establish a venture capital industry in SA.

From 1990 to 1993 Ian Kowalick played an important role in the analysis and resolution of the financial difficulties of the former State Bank of SA and was involved in the subsequent reconstruction and sale of the Bank.

Ian Kowalick's early career was with an international consulting and technical services firm that provided technical, project management and financial consulting services to the mining industry.

Elected by the General Staff for a term from 6 March 2009 to 5 March 2011.

Professor Valerie Linton is a member of the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. Valerie studied in the UK, graduating from Sheffield and Cambridge Universities. She worked as an engineer for British Gas in the UK before moving to New Zealand to work for MPT, a relatively large technical consultancy.

Valerie has been with the University of Adelaide since 2001 and during that time has headed up the Adelaide nodes of the CRC for Welded Structures and the CRC Energy Pipelines.

Prof. Simon Maddocks is Chief of the Livestock & Farming Systems division within the South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI) - the research agency of the SA Department of Primary Industries and Resources.

Prof. Maddocks graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) degree in 1984. As an undergraduate he was elected by the student body to the Adelaide University Union Council, and chaired the Council for a term. He completed a PhD in the area of Reproductive Physiology & Immunology in 1987, and was also the recipient that year of the prestigious Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Medicine, the first non-medical graduate to receive this award. He has since received a number of other awards for his contributions to the field of Reproductive Biology and has worked overseas in the UK, Europe and the USA including a term as a Visiting Scholar to the University of Virginia.

He was employed by the University of Adelaide for 13 years prior to joining SARDI in 2003, and served as Head of the University's Department of Animal Science before being appointed Director of the Roseworthy Campus in 1998. He was appointed Professor of Animal Science in 2000, and in 2002 he was also appointed Acting Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. He has contributed actively to a number of University Alumni initiatives and in 2003 was made an Honorary Life Member of the Roseworthy Old Collegians Association.

He is a member of various state and national Boards and Committees across the agricultural and biomedical sciences, is a Director of the Menzies Foundation and is the Chairman of the Board of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin.

He is a passionate agricultural and science educator and has served on various TAFE and SASSAB curriculum review and accreditation panels. He regularly gives talks to secondary school students and community groups about careers in agriculture, and on the science and ethics associated with the application of leading biotechnologies.

Professor James McWha is the University of Adelaide's 19th Vice-Chancellor since 1874. He began his Vice-Chancellorship on 5 August 2002. Professor McWha came to Adelaide following a highly successful term of office as Vice-Chancellor and President of Massey University in New Zealand from 1996–2002, where he was also Chairman of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee in 2001–2002.

Professor McWha has an outstanding record as a teacher, researcher, manager of research institutes, academic administrator and communicator. A native of Northern Ireland, he graduated BSc and BAgr (with Honours in Agricultural Botany) from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1969 and 1970. He received his PhD from Glasgow University in 1973, prior to taking up an appointment at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where a period as a lecturer in the Department of Botany was followed by a term as Head of the Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences.

In 1985 he returned to Northern Ireland to take up a joint appointment as Professor and Head of Agricultural Botany at the Queen's University, Belfast, and Deputy Chief Scientific Officer in the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture. In 1989 he was appointed Director of the DSIR Fruit and Trees in the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and from 1992–95 was Chief Executive Officer of HortResearch (the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd).

Professor McWha is actively involved in the higher education sector on a global level. He was a Council Member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities in 2001 and again in 2006–10, and has been elected Honorary Treasurer of the ACU from 2007–10.  Beyond the Commonwealth, he was Secretary-General of the International Association of University Presidents from 2002–05. He played a formative role in the development of the New Zealand universities' quality assurance system, and was a Board member of the Australian Universities Quality Agency from 2003 – 2009.

His past and present directorships include the Board of the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology, the Board of the former New Zealand Dairy Research Institute (now Fonterra Research Centre), the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand, and numerous public and private companies including Industrial Research Limited and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. He is presently a director of the Group of Eight Ltd, the coalition of Australia's leading universities, and represents the University of Adelaide on Universities Australia, the peak body representing the Australian university sector.

Professor McWha was among the citizens of South Australia to be recognised in 2003 by the award of the Centenary Medal for his services to education, and in May 2004 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from Massey University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Massey and his advocacy for New Zealand's education system.

Ms Pamela Martin is a law graduate of the University of Adelaide (1970). She has practised as a legal practitioner in Adelaide since 1971 both in the private and public sectors, specialising in the commercial sector with a focus on major project work. In addition Pamela has tutored part time in Trusts at Adelaide University Law School and lectured and tutored at the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice course.

She is currently employed by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and holds the position of Director, Commercial Advice. Her duties in the Department have included the intergovernment relations area, chairing the State Statistical Priorities Committee and negotiating and managing complex major project work.

Pamela is a member of many government interdepartmental Task Forces and Committees. She is on the Board of the SA Affordable Housing Trust, the South Australian Film Corporation, the AustralAsia Railway Corporation, the Adelaide to Outback GP Training Program and is Chairman of the Walford Council of Governors. She has also been a Board member of the Land Management Corporation, Industrial and Commercial Premises Corporation, MFP Development Corporation and the South Australian Community Housing Authority.

Sophie Plagakis is currently in her fifth year of a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree at the University of Adelaide. She has been actively involved in student politics since starting university, serving on the Adelaide University Union Board and SAUA Council in 2006. Prior to that she was a contributing sub-editor of On Dit and secretary of the International Health Group, Insight.

Dr John Radcliffe, an Honorary Research Fellow in CSIRO, Commissioner of the National Water Commission, and Council Member of the University of Adelaide, was previously Deputy Chief Executive of CSIRO responsible for Divisions in the "Natural Resources Alliance" (Plant Industry, Land and Water, Marine Research, Wildlife & Ecology, Entomology, Atmospheric Research, Forestry and Forest Products). Prior to that, he was South Australian Director-General of Agriculture.

He is currently Chairman of the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Eminent Scientists Group which reviews import risk assessments and Chairman of the SA Centre for Natural Resources Management, a joint venture established by the SA Minister for Environment and Conservation, between the SA universities, SA Department of Water, Land and Biological Conservation, the South Australian Research and Development Institute, and CSIRO. Dr Radcliffe is a member of the DEST Research Quality Framework Assessment Panel for Agriculture, Veterinary, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Dr Radcliffe has served on numerous Cooperative Research Centre boards and was Visitor to the CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity. He served as Project Director for the ARC-sponsored Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering studies "Pesticide Use in Australia" in 2001-2 and Director and author of "Water Recycling in Australia" in 2003-4.

Among numerous other appointments, Dr Radcliffe has been a member of the SA Arid Areas Catchment Water Management Board, Chairman, Executive Council, CAB International [Wallingford, Oxon.] and Chair of the Board of the South Australian Research and Development Institute. From 1985 to 1992, he was involved with establishing the Murray Darling Basin Commission in its present form, being an SA Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner. Dr Radcliffe was a foundation Trustee of the History Trust of South Australia from 1982 and its Chairman 1987-1990.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accountancy and is a Certified Practising Accountant. Chris has been with the University for 6 years. Prior to the University, he was employed in the Financial Services, Real Estate and Event Management Sectors. He brings to the University a broad range of business skills including Funds Management and compliance and the real estate market.

In his current role at the University as, Manager, Business and Finance within the Faculty of Health Sciences, he is responsible for managing the financial framework, human resources, capital, fund raising and general administration of the Faculty. The financial framework includes Reporting, Budgeting and Operational matters.

He is involved with internal and external stakeholders, which include the Hospitals, Research Partners and the Divisions of the University.

The Hon John von Doussa QC was appointed the 14th Chancellor of the University of Adelaide on 26 July 2004. On 1 May 2003 he was appointed President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for a five year term, which concluded in September 2008. At the time of his appointment he was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, an appointment he had held since 1988. He was also the President of the Australia Competition Tribunal, a Presidential Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, an Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, and a Judge of the Industrial Relations Court of Australia. From 1992 until shortly before his appointment he was also a part-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission. From 1986 to 1988 he was a Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.

Before his appointment as a Judge he was a Queens Counsel practicing mainly in South Australia, and had served terms as the President of the Law Society of South Australia, and Vice-President of the Law Council of Australia.

In South Australia he had a close interest in the organisation and provision of practical legal training for newly qualified graduates in law. At different times he was the chair of advisory committees for the graduate diploma courses in legal practice conducted by the University of South Australia and by the Law Society of South Australia. In 1996 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the University of South Australia in recognition of that involvement. He received a Centenary Medal in 2003.

In 1993 he sat as an Acting Judge in the Supreme Court of Vanuatu. In 1997 he became a member of the Court of Appeal of Vanuatu and continues to hold this appointment. From 2003-2008 he was a non-resident member of the Supreme Court of Fiji.

Mr Young is the Executive Chairman of Equity & Advisory Ltd, a South Australian based merchant bank and corporate advisory practice. He is also Executive Chairman of Louminco Pty Ltd, a Director of A Raptis & Sons Pty Ltd, HarvestRoad Ltd and Heavymech Pty Ltd, a Member of Council of The University of Adelaide and a retained advisor to a number of public and large private companies including Shaw and Smith Pty Ltd and Steel Building Systems Pty Ltd.

Stephen is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Company Directors and is a member and former South Australian Chapter Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization.

In prior years, Stephen has been a member of the Premier's Roundtable, a Director of the Adelaide Football Club, Chairman of Michell Australia Group, a Director of ASC Pty Ltd (formerly Australian Submarine Corporation), a Member of the Boards of ETSA Corporation and Land Management Corporation and a Council Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, South Australian Division.

Mr Young was Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen, South Australia from 1989 to 1997, Partner in Charge of the Corporate Recovery Division of that office from 1989 to 1992, a member of the Worldwide Insolvency Core Group from 1990 to 1992 and Partner in Charge of the Corporate Finance Division in Adelaide from 1993 to 1997. He was also a member of the Partnership Admission and Review Committee from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the Arthur Andersen Worldwide Advisory Council for a two year term commencing in 1991.

Mr Young was also a member of the board of the Adelaide Football Club from 1997 to 2000 including the two premiership years of 1997 and 1998.

Stephen is married with 3 children and plays polo.