ARC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director, Biological Sciences and Biotechnology
- Professor
Professor Alastair McEwan joined the ARC as Executive Director, Biological Sciences and Biotechnology in November 2023.
Alastair was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham in 1984 and held a Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC) Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford. He was a Lecturer in Biochemistry and Group Leader in the SERC Centre for Metalloprotein Spectroscopy & Biology at the University of East Anglia, Norwich before joining the University of Queensland in 1993.
Alastair has held several academic leadership roles at the University of Queensland (UQ) including Head, School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences, Dean, UQ Graduate School (2013-21) and most recently Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research).
Alastair is passionate about researcher development and in his role as Convenor, Australian Council of Graduate Research (2019-21), he was actively engaged in promoting research training across Australia.
Alastair has a distinguished research record with more than 200 research works across the biochemical and microbial sciences, and the interdisciplinary research area of Metals in Biology. His research focusses on the role of transition metal ion acquisition and tolerance in bacterial-host cell interactions and the development of metal-based antimicrobials. His research was funded continuously by the ARC for more than two decades and he continues to be funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
- Professor
Job Titles:
- Chief Research Officer
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
- Professor
Professor Christina Twomey joined the ARC as its inaugural Chief Research Officer in January 2023.
An experienced academic leader, Christina is former Vice-President of Monash University's Academic Board and was also Head of the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies in the Faculty of Arts (2017-21). A member of the ARC College of Experts (2019-21), her elected positions have included Chair of the Board of Australian Historical Studies (after a term as Editor, 2012-15), Executive of the Australian Historical Association and President of the International Australian Studies Association. She has led submissions to research evaluation processes.
Christina is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. In 2012, she was the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Distinguished Visiting Chair of Australian Studies at the University of Copenhagen and in 2018, a Visiting Professor at Kyushu University, Japan. She is a member, by Ministerial invitation, of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Editorial Advisory Board.
A prize-winning historian, Christina research focuses on the social and cultural history of war, with a particular interest in imprisonment and internment, gendered violence, trauma, Australia-Asia relations, humanitarian and aid programmes, and visual cultures of atrocity. Her most recent work focuses on Australia's Asian garrisons and regional engagement during the Cold War period.
Professor Deborah Terry AC is a highly experienced leader in the Australian university sector and an internationally recognised scholar in psychology. Since August 2020, Professor Terry has served as Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland (UQ). Prior to this, she was Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University in Western Australia, from 2014 to 2020. Between 1990 and 2014, Professor Terry has held a range of academic positions at UQ before moving into senior university leadership roles and becoming Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Professor Terry is a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and currently serves on the Board of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNET) and the National Schools Resourcing Board. She is also a former Chair of the Board of Universities Australia and a member of the Universitas 21 Executive Committee.
Professor Terry was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2024.
Job Titles:
- Food Innovation Australia Limited ( FIAL ) Managing Director
- Managing Director, Food Innovation Australia Ltd
Dr Mirjana Prica is Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) Managing Director. She is an enthusiastic visionary who focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation to deliver commercial value. Dr Prica sits on boards and advisory groups of clusters, cooperative research centres, universities, research and industry organisations and businesses, where she leverages her 30 years of research and commercial experience in food, agribusiness, advanced materials and minerals. FIAL is a national and industry-led organisation, established by the Australian Government to drive innovation and business growth for the approximately 180,000 firms in the food and agribusiness sector.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Acting Chief Executive Officer
Dr Richard Johnson is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council. He has a broad range of policy and program delivery experience as a senior executive in the Commonwealth Government, spanning both domestic and international fields. Prior to joining the ARC, Richard was First Assistant Secretary, Social Cohesion and Multicultural Affairs, in the Department of Home Affairs. He has also represented the Australian Government, as Minister Counsellor (Home Affairs) at Australia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and provided foreign policy advice to the Prime Minister, while working in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Richard has a PhD in the history of political philosophy.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Mathematics
- Executive Director, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
- Professor
Professor Gavin Reid joined the ARC as Executive Director, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences in August 2023.
Professor Reid received an Associate Diploma of Applied Science (Laboratory Technology) from Swinburne College of TAFE, Australia in 1988, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Science and PhD in Chemistry in 1997 and 2001, respectively, from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Since 1987, he has held a variety of technical and academic research and teaching positions, including at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, Australia, and at Purdue University and Michigan State University in the USA.
In 2014, he was appointed as the Professor of Bioanalytical Chemistry in the School of Chemistry and as a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne. Most recently, he served as the Associate Dean (Infrastructure) in the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne, and from 2017-2019 was the Assistant Dean and Acting Associate Dean (Research and Industry).
Throughout his career, Gavin has made significant fundamental and applied contributions to the development and application of analytical mass spectrometry instrumentation, methodologies, and associated chemical strategies for chemical and biomolecular analysis, with a particular focus on proteomics, the large-scale study of proteins, and lipidomics, the large-scale study of lipids found in any biological system.
In addition to receiving multiple national and international awards in recognition of his research, Professor Reid was elected in 2022 as a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Secretary, Department of Education
Job Titles:
- CEO of the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association
- Director, Council of Small Business Organisations Australia ( COSBOA )
Mr McKenzie is the CEO of the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA) and holds formal qualifications in Civil Engineering (BEng) and Business (MBA). He has held a variety of public and private sector roles over the last 30 years. Recent past roles have included:
a senior professional position within the ACT Public Service (1990-1994)
several senior management positions within the NRMA Group of Companies (1995-2001)
a senior management position within Abbott Tout Lawyers (2002-2004)
founding and leadership of a national consulting business (2005-2012)
senior commercial role with the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (2013- 2015).
He was elected to the COSBOA Board in November 2015 and was Chair of the Board between October 2017 and July 2021.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
As the Chief Information Officer for the ARC, Mr Peter Conn is responsible for ICT services for the ARC. This includes the provision of a suite of web applications for ARC clients-Research Management System (RMS) and System to Evaluate the Excellence (SEER)-and support for ARC's corporate applications, desktop, IT security and infrastructure services.
Mr Conn joined the ARC in March 2014, transferring from the Department of Finance. During his career in ICT he has held a broad range of roles in government and the private sector, contributing his skills and expertise to the delivery of ICT infrastructure and application projects as well as playing a critical role in Service Delivery Reform.
Job Titles:
- Acting Branch Manager, Programs
Ms Alison Beasley has more than 20 years' experience in the Australian Public Service, having worked on a variety of grant and program delivery roles within both Commonwealth Grants Hubs.
Job Titles:
- Branch Manager of the Research Evaluation
- Branch Manager, Research Evaluation and Policy
Claire Forsyth is the Branch Manager of the Research Evaluation and Data Branch which is responsible for responsible for assessing the quality, impact and engagement of research produced by Australian universities. Prior to this, Claire was with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources for 13 years, working across multiple different program, policy and executive areas, including leading the Business Outreach and Engagement Branch and Science Policy Branch where she has overseen major reform agendas and led the development and implementation of key government initiatives. Prior to joining the Australian Public Service, Claire worked in the financial services sector.
Claire holds a Bachelor of Business (Finance/Commerce) from the University of Sydney and an Executive Masters of Public Administration through the Australian New Zealand School of Government and the Australian National University.
Job Titles:
- Acting Branch Manager
- Acting Branch Manager, Strategy and Communications
Ms Geraldine Dennis is the acting Branch Manager of the Strategy and Communications Branch, which is responsible for providing high-level executive support to the ARC Chief Executive Officer and broader senior leadership group, and for leading agency-wide communications, parliamentary, and strategic engagement, planning and coordination functions, including implementation of the ARC Strategy 2022-25.
Ms Dennis has over 25 years' experience in public administration, covering policy, program management and service delivery across all levels of government. Prior to taking up her current position at the ARC, Ms Dennis served in senior executive roles in the Commonwealth Government where she led the development of reforms to immigration and citizenship policy and legislation, and multicultural and social cohesion research programs, including at the Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Secretary, Department of Industry, Science and Resources
Job Titles:
- Branch Manager, Corporate Services
Job Titles:
- Director of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation
Professor Simmons AO is Director of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She has pioneered unique technologies internationally to build electronic devices in silicon at the atomic scale, including the world's smallest transistor, the narrowest conducting wires, 3D atomic electronics and the first two qubit gate using atom-based qubits in silicon.
As founder of Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd, her team is at the forefront of developing a silicon-based quantum computer. Professor Simmons has twice received an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship, and now a Laureate Fellowship. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, the UK Institute of Physics, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the Australian Academy of Science.
In 2018 Professor Simmons was named Australian of the Year.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Engineering and Information Sciences
- Executive Director, Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences
- Professor
Professor Steven Weller joined the ARC as Executive Director, Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences in March 2023.
Prof. Weller received the B.E. (Hons. I) degree in Computer Engineering in 1988, the M.E. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1992, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1994, all from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
During 1994-1997, he was a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia. In 1997, he joined the University of Newcastle, where he served as Head of School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2007-2009). He was also Assistant Dean Research (2011-2013) for the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, where he served as Deputy Head of Faculty (2013-2020). Over the period 2020-2023 he was Director of the Science and Engineering Challenge (SEC) a national outreach program inspiring young people to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in senior high school.
Currently he is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Newcastle. Highly awarded, Professor Weller is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.
Prof. Weller's research interests are in control theory and its applications. He is especially interested in applications of control theory to energy systems, climate economics, and in cyber-security of modern power systems.
Professor Susan Dodds, FAHA has been the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Industry Engagement) and Vice-President at La Trobe University since 2019. She is a philosopher and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Humanities in 2021. Professor Dodds previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Tasmania. She is an active researcher and was the leader of the ethics, policy and public engagement theme of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) 2014-2021.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Toronto and a PhD from La Trobe University and has served on national committees, including the NHMRC Australian Health Ethics Committee (2012-2015).