Michael Darling (Chairman)

Michael Darling (Chairman) is Chairman of Caledonia Investments Ltd. He is also a member of the Asian Advisory Board of Prumerica Financial. He has served as a Director of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Australian Wool Realisation Commission. He is past Chairman of Art Exhibitions Australia and was trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria. He has been a member of the CIS Board since 1986 and Chairman since 2004.

 

Chris Roberts (Deputy Chairman)

Chris Roberts (Deputy Chairman) is Chairman of Amcor Ltd and Cockatoo Ridge Wines Ltd. He is a Director of Australian Agriculture Ltd, an Advisor to Control Risk Group PLC, and Governor of Winifred West Schools Ltd.

His former roles include Managing Director of Orlando Wyndham Wines Pty Ltd and Arnotts Ltd, and Director of Telstra Corporation Ltd and MLC Life Ltd.

 

Belinda Hutchinson AM (Deputy Chair)

Belinda Hutchinson AM is Chairman of QBE Insurance Group, a Director of St Vincent’s Health Australia and the Salvation Army Sydney Advisory Board. Belinda was an Executive Director of Macquarie Group from 1992 to 1997 and a Vice President of Citibank between 1981 and 1992. She has served on the boards of Telstra, Coles Myer, Crane Group, Energy Australia, TAB, Snowy Hydro, State Library of NSW, and Sydney Water.

 

Michael Chaney AO

Michael Chaney AO is Chairman of the National Australia Bank Limited, Woodside Petroleum Limited and Gresham Partners Limited. He is Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, a member of the JPMorgan International Council and Chairman of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth.

He graduated with Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Western Australia and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University Business School. He worked for eight years as a petroleum geologist and then joined the Australian Industry Development Corporation as a corporate finance executive and then Manager for Western Australia. He then joined Wesfarmers in 1983 as Company Secretary and Administration Manager, became Finance Director in 1984 and was Managing Director from 1992 to 2005.  He was also President of the Business Council of Australia 2005-2007.

Chum Darvall

Chum Darvall was appointed Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Bank Australia and New Zealand in July 2002. He joined the bank in 1994 as Director Treasury managing the money market, swaps and foreign exchange units and group funding. In 1998, he became Head of Global Markets responsible for all financial market-related activities. Chum was also part of the management group responsible for the integration of the New Zealand operation of Bankers Trust with Deutsche Bank in 1999.

Prior to his first appointment at Deutsche Bank, Chum worked in the financial markets divisions of Westpac (1985-1994) and BA Australia Ltd (1981-1985), a subsidiary of Bank of America.

Board memberships include Wilson HTM, Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA), Centre for Independent Studies, Australian Theatre for Young People, the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI).

Dr Peter Dodd

Dr Peter Dodd is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer of Macquarie University. The role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor the Chief Operating Officer is responsible for overseeing the University's finances, information technology infrastructure, archiving, campus development and student services.

Most recently he was Chief Financial Officer of North American Energy Partners based in Canada. Prior to that he was Managing Director of Access Macquarie, a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie University that serves as the link between academics and researchers from Macquarie University and Industry. Peter had over 20 years in Investment Banking and was Global Head of Corporate Finance for ABN Amro.

He was Professor of Finance and later Dean of Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales and Associate Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Sir Rod Eddington AO

Sir Rod Eddington AO is the inaugural chair of Infrastructure Australia. He was Chief Executive of British Airways from 2000-2005. Prior to this he was Managing Director and CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways from 1992-1996 and Executive Chairman of Ansett Airlines from 1997-2000. He is currently non-executive Chairman (Aust & NZ) of JPMorgan, in addition to maintaining non-executive director roles with News Corporation, Rio Tinto, Allco Finance Group Limited, CLP (China Light & Power) Holdings, and John Swire & Sons Pty Ltd. He also serves as Chairman of Victorian Major Events Company.

Sir Rod was Western Australia’s Rhodes Scholar in 1974 and holds a Doctorate from Oxford University in the Department of Engineering Science. In 2005, he was awarded a Knighthood by the British Government for services to civil aviation. In 2006, he completed a study for the British Government on the links between transport and the economy.

Dr Peter Farrell AM

Dr Peter Farrell AM, Ph.D., has been President and a director of ResMed since its inception in June 1989, and Chief Executive Officer since 1990. In addition to his responsibilities with ResMed, Dr. Farrell is a director of Cardiodynamics Inc. (NASDAQ ticker: CDIC), and a director of Medcare Flaga hf. Prior to 1989, Dr. Farrell served as Vice President, Research and Development at various subsidiaries of Baxter International, Inc. as well as Managing Director of the Baxter Center for Medical Research Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Baxter.

He was Foundation Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales where he currently serves as a Visiting Professor. He holds a B.E. in chemical engineering with honors from the University of Sydney, an S.M. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and bioengineering from the University of Washington, Seattle and a D.Sc. from the University of New South Wales.

Ross Grant

Ross Grant is Chairman of Grant Samuel Group, an independent investment banking firm which he established in 1988.

Ross Grant was previously an Executive Director of Macquarie Bank Limited having joined Hill Samuel Australia Limited (the predecessor of Macquarie Bank Limited) in 1975. Ross Grant holds degrees in Mathematics (B.Sc (Hons) - Otago University), Economics (M.Com - Canterbury University) and Business Administration (MBA - University of NSW).

John M. Green

John M. Green is a director, investor and writer. In addition to The Centre for Independent Studies, John is also a director of the Macquarie Group Foundation and the General Sir John Monash Foundation. He is also a director of WorleyParsons Limited.

Until August 2006, he was an investment banker at Macquarie Bank, where he was an executive director for 13 years. His professional career before investment banking was 17 years in law, including as a partner in two law firms, Freehills and Dawson Waldron. In past years, he was also a member of the ASX National Listings Committee and held a number of posts in the Securities Institute of Australia (now Finsia).

Greg Lindsay AO (Executive Director)

Greg Lindsay AO is the founder and Executive Director of The Centre for Independent Studies. While studying philosophy at Macquarie University in the early 1970s, Mr Lindsay became interested in the ideas underpinning a free and open society. A maths teacher by training, Mr Lindsay taught for some years at Richmond High School in Western Sydney, and while there, founded the Centre in 1976. Since then, he has overseen the development of CIS into Australia's largest independent think tank covering the three major policy areas - economic, social and international.

Greg has been active in the international liberal movement and is a former President of The Mont Pelerin Society (www.montpelerin.org). He is a member of the Council of Macquarie University.

Robert McLean AM

Robert McLean is a company director and private equity investor. He is Chairman of Elders Australia Limited and previously served on the boards of CSR Ltd and Pacific Dunlop Ltd. He was previously Dean and Director of the AGSM at UNSW.

He had a 25 year career at McKinsey & Co, Inc where he remains a Senior Advisor to the Firm. He is Chairman of Social Ventures Australia and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nature Conservancy in Australia. He has been a member of the CIS Board since 1998.

Rohan Mead

Rohan Mead was appointed Group Managing Director of Australian Unity Ltd on 1 July 2004. He is Chairman of the Business Council of Australia’s Healthy Australia task force and a Director of the Australian Health Insurance Association. He is also Chairman of Platypus Asset Management, Deputy Chair of Acorn Capital, a Director of Seres Asset Management (Hong Kong), and a Director of the Australian Centre for Health Research. Before joining Australian Unity, Rohan was with Perpetual Trustees Australia Ltd (1996–2003) in a range of senior roles. Prior to his work at Perpetual, Mr Mead headed marketing and communications at Blake Dawson.

Nicholas Moore

Nicholas Moore is Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group, a global financial services provider which operates in more than 70 locations in 28 countries. He joined Macquarie in 1986 and led the global development of its investment banking division and its advisory, funds management, financing and securities businesses. He is now leading the continued global growth of Macquarie Group as it builds on its position as one of Asia Pacific's leading financial services providers.

Nicholas is also Chairman of Police and Community Youth Clubs NSW Ltd and Chairman of the University of NSW Business School Advisory Council.

Geoff Ricketts

Geoff Ricketts is a commercial lawyer, company director and investor with experience in the New Zealand and Australian business environment. He is Chairman of Lion Nathan National Foods Limited (appointed October 2009), and a director of Suncorp-Metway Limited, Spotless Group Limited, Taylors Group Limited (Chairman), The Todd Corporation Limited and a number of private companies.

Geoff is also Chairman of the University of Auckland Foundation, a member of the Auckland Catholic Diocese Advisory Board and a consultant to Russell McVeagh, Solicitors (Auckland and Wellington).

Steven Skala AO

Steven Skala AO is Vice-Chairman, Australia and New Zealand of Deutsche Bank AG.  He is also Chairman of Film Australia Limited and Hexima Limited and is a director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Australia Limited, Max Capital Group Ltd, Wilson HTM Investment Group Limited and the Australian Ballet.

Steven serves as Vice President of The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is a Member of the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Grievance Tribunal of Cricket Australia, The Global Foundation and the Advisory Board of the Australian Innovation Research Centre. Steven is the immediate past Chairman of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and was a director of the Channel 10 Group of Companies and The King Island Company Limited.  Between 1985 and 2004, Steven was a partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler, Solicitors and head of its corporate and commercial practice.

Alison Watkins

Alison Watkins is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ASX listed agribusiness GrainCorp Limited. She is also a non-executive director of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited. She was Chief Executive Officer of Berri Limited, the market leader in Australian juice, and Managing Director of Regional Banking at ANZ. She spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company from 1989-1999 and became a partner of the Firm in 1996 before moving to ANZ as Group General Manager Strategy, reporting to the CEO. Alison has been a director of Woolworths Limited, Just Group Limited, and chairman of Mrs Crocket’s Kitchen, which was controlled by a leading private equity fund. She is a former Victorian President and National Board Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

She has been involved in a range of community boards, including the World Swimming Championships 2007 and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Commerce (University of Tasmania), is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, and the AICD.

Dr Gary Weiss

Dr. Weiss holds the degrees of LL.B (Hons) and LL.M (with dist.) from Victoria University of Wellington, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) from Cornell University, New York. Dr Weiss has extensive international business experience and has been involved in numerous cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Dr Weiss is Chairman of Coats plc and Secure Parking Pty Ltd, Executive Director of Ariadne Australia Ltd, and a director of Premier Investments Limited, Ridley Corporation Ltd and Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. He was executive director of Guinness Peat Group plc from 1990 to April 2011 and has held directorships of numerous companies, including Westfield Group, Tower Australia Ltd, Australian Wealth Management Limited, Tyndall Australia Ltd (Deputy Chairman), Joe White Maltings Ltd (Chairman), CIC Ltd, Whitlam Turnbull & Co Ltd and Industrial Equity Ltd.

He has authored numerous articles on a variety of legal and commercial topics.

Christopher D.White FAICD

Christopher White is the co-owner and Managing Director of Ringmer Pacific , a Private Property Funds Management business established in 1998.  Ringmer Pacific is a privately owned boutique property investment manager focused exclusively for private wholesale investors to invest in direct property in the commercial real estate sector.  He has over 25 years’ experience in the Property Investment markets, including Property Development, Project Management and Property Funds Management.

He graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Property Finance and Investment (PCA) in 2001 and completed the Owners Presidents Management (OPM)  program at Harvard Business School in 2009.

He is also a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.He has  served on the board of Outward Bound Australia since 2003 and joined the board of the Centre for Independent Studies in 2011.

Steven Wilson AM

Steven Wilson is Executive Chairman of Wilson HTM Investment Group and was previously Managing Director from 1985-2003. He is also a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland. His previous experience was in accounting with Arthur Anderson and stockbroker with Cazenove and Co in London . His experience has been in investment banking, funds management and stockbroking.

Steven is Chairman of South Bank Corporation and Wilson Investments Taurine Fund Ltd. He was formerly Chairman of the St John's Cathedral Completion Fund and served on the boards of Telstra Corporation, City of Brisbane Airport Corporation, Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation, The Brisbane Institute and the Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation. Other appointments have included membership of the Committee for Economic Development of Queensland and the Brisbane City Council Business Advisory Board.

Peter Yates AM

B.Comm (Melb)  1983 Master of Science (mgt) (Stanford)  1996 MAICD, CFTP, Doctorate of the University (Murdoch)

Peter Yates AM is Chairman of the Peony Capital General Partnership and a director of AIA Australia Limited, Oceania Capital Partners Limited and MOKO.mobi.

From 2004-2007 Peter was Managing Director of Oceania Capital Partners, a listed private equity fund specialising in private equity and activist corporate situations.  Peter was Chief Executive Officer of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited from 2001-2004.  Until 2001 he worked in the Investment Banking industry including 15 years with Macquarie Bank.  Peter has also worked for Morgan Stanley in Australia and Booz Allen Hamilton in Tokyo.  He holds a Doctorate of the University (Murdoch) and a Masters degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Commerce degree from Melbourne.  He speaks Japanese, having studied at Keio University in Tokyo.

Peter is Chairman of the Royal Institution of Australia, the Australian Science Media Centre and the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne.  He is Deputy Chairman of Asialink and Asia Society AustralAsia Centre; a Board Member of the Australian-Japan Foundation, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation (Victoria), the Myer Foundation and the Melbourne International Art Festival.