BACKDECK CONSULTING - Key Persons


John Patterson

With more than 20 years senior executive experience in a large, successful and multi-campus international University, John is an acknowledged expert for developing and facilitating strong institutional strategy. John has a long and rich history as a leader, strategist and senior manager. He has interacted at the highest levels of government and business both domestically and internationally. Given the depth and breadth of experience and clear record of success in organisational strategy and change, John is regarded as one of Australia's leading University administrators. John has been a consultant to universities, government agencies and private companies in Australia. John has extensive experience in the international arena having been involved in education development projects in China, Hong Kong, the Middle East, the Maldives, Thailand, Singapore, the US and Canada. John is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Innovative approaches to problems and, professional growth and development of staff have been the hallmarks of his career. He has been described as a hands-on executive with strategic initiative and a focused approach who is able to communicate with all parties to engender commitment and support. He offers a combination of creativity and analytical skill to form the vision, determine the best way to achieve it. Qualifications & Professional Awards

Lori Lockyer

Job Titles:
  • Company Director
  • Leader
Lori Lockyer has been a leader in the Australian higher education for more than two decades. At the University of Wollongong, Lori held a number of roles including Associate Dean (Research and Graduate) in the Faculty of Education and helped establish the Graduate School of Medicine as its foundation Director of Educational Development. At Macquarie University, as Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation Chair in Teacher Education and Head of the School of Education, she provided leadership through a period of significant state-based initial teacher education reform. At the University of Technology Sydney, as Dean of the Graduate Research School, Lori led major policy and procedure transformation and industry engagement initiatives for research students across the UTS programs and within the Australian Technology Network of Universities. Currently, at the Queensland University of Technology, Lori is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice. Lori has been appointed to several key committees focused on research strategy, funding and assessment including the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, Transforming Learning and the Transmission of Knowledge Expert Working Group, the Australian Research Council's College of Experts and ERA Research Evaluation Committees. Lori holds a PhD in Education from the University of Wollongong, a Master of Library and Information Science and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Western Ontario. Lori's research explores how technology can be used to support learning by investigating how educators design learning experiences for their students, how students engage with technology for their learning, and how learning analytics and a range of measures can help to understand educational experiences and outcomes. Lori has attracted in excess of $18M in research funding and disseminated her work in more than 150 publications attracting over 6,000 citations. Lori has been recognised with Australian and international awards including: Platinum Learning Impact Award (2008) by the IMS Global Learning Consortium for the design of the University of Wollongong's Graduate School of Medicine Online Learning Environment. Australian Learning and Teaching committee's Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2011) for commitment to technology-enhanced communication, collaboration and community building that facilitates effective learning, supports quality teaching and leads to educational change. Lori is a qualified company director with experienced as a executive director for not-for-profit organisations across the health and education sectors.