Eminent scientists join Academy leadership

The Australian Academy of Science today announced that five of Australia’s leading scientists will join its Council in 2015.

The council has overall responsibility for managing the Academy, and is made up of 17 members from a diverse range of disciplines across the physical and biological sciences who are elected by the Fellowship.

The two new members of Council elected from the physical sciences are:

• Professor Sue O’Reilly (Professor of Geology, Distinguished Professor of Macquarie University)
• Professor Mandyam V. Srinivasan (Professor of Visual Neuroscience at the Queensland Brain Institute and the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering of The University of Queensland)

The three new members of Council elected from the biological sciences are:

• Dr TJ Higgins (Honorary Fellow, CSIRO)
• Professor Ian Hume (Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Sydney)
• Professor John Mattick (Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research)

Dr Higgins will also join the Council’s Executive Committee as the Secretary for Biological Sciences.

The Academy’s President Andrew Holmes congratulated the new members on their election.

“It’s fantastic to see these top Australian scientists contributing time in their extraordinarily busy schedules to assist the Academy to achieve its mission,” Professor Holmes said.

“Each of them brings a wealth of experience that will undoubtedly help the Academy to champion excellence in Australian science,” he said.

“I would also like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of members retiring from their positions on the Council: current Secretary for Biological Sciences, Professor Marilyn Renfree, Professor Nalini Joshi, Professor Ian Frazer, Professor Rick Shine, and Professor Mike Raupach.”

The new Council members will formally take up their positions after the 2015 Annual General Meeting that will be held in May as part of the Academy’s annual three day celebration of science, Science at the Shine Dome.