Members

Current Macquarie University Council members

The Council is the primary governing body for the University. Its members represent university executive, staff, students, and also bring professional insight from industry.

Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM

BEc (Hons1) MEc MA PhD FASSA FIPAA

Chancellor

Appointed pursuant to Section 8H of the Macquarie University Act 1989.  Current term to 24 October 2027.

Dr Martin Parkinson was appointed the Chancellor of Macquarie University in October 2019. He previously served as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, as Secretary to the Australian Treasury and as the inaugural Secretary of the Department of Climate Change.

Dr Parkinson is a non-executive director of Worley, World View Indo-Pacific, Australian Retirement Trust, O’Connell Street Associates, and the Champions of Change Coalition, and is chair of the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation and co-chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. He is a member of the Champions of Change Coalition, the B-Team Australasia, the organizing committee of the Climate Leaders Coalition, and of the advisory boards of Thrive Refugee Enterprises, the Asia Society Australia, Fujitsu Australia, and Bain & Company.

Dr Parkinson has previously served as a director of Orica, North Queensland Airports, the NSW Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board, the Northern Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission, the Cranlana Program for Ethical Leadership, and the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He has been a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia; Chair of the Australian Office of Financial Management; and a member of the boards of Infrastructure Australia, the Council of Financial Regulators, and the Board of Taxation. He has also been a member of Prime Minister Abbott’s Business Advisory Council, Prime Minister Gillard’s Australia’s Asian Century Strategic Advisory Board, the Policy Committee of the Grattan Institute, the Net Zero Australia Advisory Board and the Australian Federal Police Future Directions Advisory Board.

In January 2017, Dr Parkinson was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia, following his 2008 receipt of the Public Service Medal. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and of the Institute of Public Administration Australia; a life member of the Australian Business Economists; recipient of the ANZSOG Institute of Governance Public Sector Award for Excellence; and, in 2013, was the Australian National University’s inaugural Alumnus of the Year.

He holds a PhD and a MA from Princeton University, a MEc from the Australian National University and a BEc (Hons 1) from the University of Adelaide. Dr Parkison has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of the University (honoris causa) by the University of Adelaide and of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by ANU.

Ms Louise Mason

BA LLB (Hons) Macq

Deputy Chancellor

Reappointed by the Minister for Education and Training pursuant to section 8G of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 31 December 2024.

Ms Louise Mason graduated from Macquarie in 1989 and has held various roles in the property industry at Lend Lease, AMP Capital and Stockland. Currently Ms Mason is Group Executive and CEO Commercial Property at Stockland. The role covers all aspects of the management of Stockland’s retail, office, logistics and business park assets and a staff of 500.

With 28 years’ experience in real estate, Ms Mason was previously Chief Operating Officer for Real Estate at AMP Capital and held other roles over 13 years with the organisation including Head of Development and Managing Director of Office and Industrial.

Ms Mason is a member of Stockland’s Executive Committee. In 2016, Ms Mason was elected NSW President of the Property Council Australia.

Professor S Bruce Dowton

MB BS MD FACMG FRACP FAICD FRSN

Vice-Chancellor

Ex officio member; appointed pursuant to Section 8H of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 2 September 2029.

The Vice-Chancellor and President was appointed to the role in 2012 and serves as the chief executive officer of the University, with overall responsibility for its academic, research, administrative, financial and development strategies. He is tasked with promoting the interests and furthering the development of the University.

Prior to his appointment Professor Dowton served as a senior medical executive having held a range of positions in universities, health care and consulting organisations in many settings around the world. He also served as a paediatrician at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and as Clinical Professor of Paediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

Professor Jacqueline Phillips

BVSc (Hons) PhD

Chair of Academic Senate

Ex officio member; appointed pursuant to Section 8H of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 30 June 2025.

Professor Jacqueline Phillips is professor of Neurophysiology in the Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences.

Professor Phillips joined Macquarie University in 2009 and became a member of Academic Senate as an elected representative for the then Faculty of Human Sciences in 2013. She was elected Deputy Chair of Academic Senate in 2015 and Chair in 2020.

Professor Phillips first trained as a veterinarian at the University of Sydney. After a period in small animal practice, she went back to study and gained her PhD from the Australian National University. Professor Phillips undertook postdoctoral and academic positions in New Zealand and Perth, developing her research program in autonomic and sensory neuroscience, focusing on the complex relationships between the brain and cardiovascular system. Her recent work has addressed these relationships in association with chronic kidney disease, aiming to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke in these patients.

Professor Phillips has significant undergraduate and postgraduate teaching experience and has supervised PhD, Honours and MRes students to successful completion of their research programs.

As well as her governance expertise in the University sector she holds board and executive positions with Government Panels, scientific societies and not-for-profit organisations, and has been actively involved in outreach partnerships with schools and community organisations.

Mr Michael Book

BEc Macq

Graduate Member appointed by Council pursuant to Section 8E of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term 14 December 2023 to 13 December 2027.

Mr Michael Book is a Chartered Accountant and worked at UBS Australia Group for 15 years in senior finance roles including 10 years as CFO.

Mr Book has experience in complex accounting transactions, business advice, restructurings, treasury and capital management. His experience covers both global organisations and start-up businesses.

Mr Book has extensive experience in Asia where he led diverse teams across the region. He has significant change management experience leading major projects covering systems, business processes, controls and organisational change in Australia and Asia. Mr Book has also served on a number of NFP boards.

Associate Professor Nikola Balnave

BEc (Hons 1) PhD

Academic Staff member elected under section 8D of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025.

Associate Professor Nikola (Nikki) Balnave joined Macquarie University as an academic staff member in the Faculty of Business and Economics (now the Macquarie Business School) in 2011. Her teaching and research background is in the fields of Industrial Relations and Business and Labour History, with a strong research focus since 2005 on co-operatives.

Since joining Macquarie University, Associate Professor Balnave has served on multiple Faculty Committees including as Chair of the Ethics Sub-Committee for four years. She currently serves on the MQBS Faculty Board and the WHS and Wellbeing Committee. She is an inaugural member of the Academic Staff Implementation Committee,  which oversees the implementation of the Enterprise Agreement, serving as Chair in 2021.

Associate Professor Balnave was the NTEU MQ Branch President from 2018–2022, has been a National Councillor since 2016 and NSW Division President and member of National Executive since 2018. She was also a member of the NTEU bargaining team at Macquarie for the last two rounds.

Ms Lyn Cobley

BEc Macq GAICD

Graduate Member appointed by Council pursuant to Section 8E of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 31 December 2027.

Ms Lyn Cobley is an experienced Banking and Financial Services leader with over 30 years’ experience in senior positions at Australian and Global banks. She has served as CEO of Westpac Institutional Bank, Chair of Westpac Asia Advisory Board, Group Treasurer of Commonwealth Bank of Australia and held senior roles at Barclays Capital and Citibank Limited.

She is currently a Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Ms Cobley has strong experience in strategy and leadership, people and culture matters, transformation, technology, and navigating the complexity in regulated industries. She also has experience with sustainability and climate action in the financial services sector and was a Trustee Board member of the Westpac Foundation.

Ms Cobley is a graduate of Macquarie University having completed a Bachelor of Economics. She is a Senior Fellow of FINSIA, a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Professor Catherine Dean

BAppSc (Phty) MA PhD PFHEA GAICD

Academic Staff member elected under section 8D of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025.

In 2011, Professor Catherine Dean joined Macquarie University as the inaugural Head and Director of the Physiotherapy Program and has since also been appointed as Head of Department of Health Professions. The department was established in the Faculty of Human Sciences but since has moved to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Professor Dean is currently Deputy Dean, Education and Employability for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences.

Previously, Professor Dean worked as an academic at the University of Sydney and has held academic leadership roles across a number of health professions. Professor Dean has comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the Australian higher education and healthcare sectors and has developed strong links with public and private health providers in the community, education and welfare sectors.

Dr Louise Dwyer

BSc (Hons) PhD GradDipExtMet

Professional Staff member (non-academic) elected under section 8D of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024.

Dr Louise Dwyer has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and PhD in bioinorganic chemistry from the University of Western Australia (2010) and a Graduate Diploma of Extractive Metallurgy from Murdoch University, and is a qualified classical ballet teacher. She held a joint postdoctoral position between the University of Western Australia and Griffith University examining the subcellular distribution of gold and platinum compounds in tumour cells using novel imaging techniques, before joining the Graduate Research School at the University of Western Australia in 2012, holding positions in graduate research education development and candidature management.

Dr Dwyer joined Macquarie University Higher Degree Research Office in 2016 and is currently the Operations Director for Graduate Research with operational and strategic oversight of the University’s graduate research programs, scholarships and external partnerships. Dr Dwyer is an accredited research manager with the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) and was a member of the NSW Chapter Committee for a number of years. She is currently a Training Fellow in the ARMS Foundation Level program and active contributor to the Australian Council of Graduate Research.

Ms Deborah Hadwen

BA MA MComLaw Macq MAICD

Member appointed by Council under Section 8F of the Macquarie University Act. Current term to 29 February 2028.

Ms Deborah Hadwen has extensive experience in Information Technology within the corporate and government sectors in Australia and Asia and is a company director. She was previously Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand for Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), a global leader in IT services, digital and business solutions. In this role, Ms Hadwen led business growth to over $800M in revenue and grew a team to over 12,500 staff servicing Australian customers in the delivery and support of systems across most technology areas. Prior to TCS, she held several commercial roles at Compuware Asia Pacific Pty Ltd and IBM Australia.

Ms Hadwen is currently Non-Executive Director at Ambition Group (ASX: AMB), a global recruitment consultancy, a member of its Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

She was a Finalist for the Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2011 and a Finalist for the CEO Magazine, IT Executive of the Year in 2015. Ms Hadwen holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the University of Sydney, a Master in Commercial Law from Macquarie University and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ms Jingmin Qian

BEc MBA CFA FAICD

Member appointed by Council pursuant to Section 8F of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 28 February 2027.

Ms Jingmin Qian is a company director and corporate adviser with rich experience on Asia. Ms Qian is a Director of Jing Meridian Advisory, specialising on strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Venture negotiation and cross-cultural management with Asian investors and partners. Previously she held executive roles with Boral Limited, Leighton Holdings and LEK Consulting. Ms Qian started her career at Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, working with AusAID and the UN on projects in more than twenty provinces in China.

Ms Qian is a non-executive director of Abacus Property Group (ABP.AX), a Trustee of Club Plus Super, and a director of the Australia China Business Council (ACBC). Ms Qian joined Macquarie University Council in March 2015, after serving on the Advisory Board of Department of Marketing and Management for two years.

Ms Qian holds a Bachelor Degree of Economics from the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, UNSW and University of Sydney. Ms Qian is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a CFA Charter holder.

Ms Manasbi Poudel

Student member elected under section 8D of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2025.

Ms Manasbi Poudel is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Analytics. She actively participates in student life on campus and has held executive positions in various student societies, including the Macquarie University Business Society. A recipient of the Prometheus fellowship, she is also currently studying public policy based on Ayn Rand's Objectivism.

Engaging in different leadership forums, Ms Poudel is a participant in the Millennium Women Leadership Summit under E-lead and a mentee at Lucy Mentorship under Macquarie Business School. She is also the founding member and Vice-President of the Society of Nepali Women in Economics.

Prior to coming to Australia, Ms Poudel served on the board as treasurer of Girls Empowered by Travel – Nepal, an NGO committed to empower women, especially from underprivileged communities by providing opportunities for purpose-driven travel along with community based projects. She Poudel was also recognised as 30 under 30 Summit Women in Entrepreneurship in Nepal.

Mr Frank Zipfinger

BAcc BEc Macq LLB LLM MBA MAICD

Graduate member appointed by Council pursuant to Section 8E of the Macquarie University Act 1989. Current term to 28 February 2027.

Mr Frank Zipfinger is the Chairman of Buchan Architects and of Vecor Limited. He is also the Chairman of the Teter Mek Foundation and of Oneland Programs Limited.

Mr Zipfinger is a member of the Executive Committee of the St Joseph’s College Indigenous Fund and of the Board of the St Joseph’s College Foundation. He is Deputy Chairman of the Melbourne Business School, President of The Ski Lodges Organisation of Perisher, Smiggins and Guthega Inc., and a Board member of The Northcare Foundation at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Mr Zipfinger has over 35 years’ experience in the property industry. He was formerly a Partner in the Sydney office of Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King and Wood Mallesons) where he specialised in property investment and development. He was the Chairman of Mallesons Stephen Jaques from 1 February 2005 until 30 June 2010 and Chairman of Mallesons in the Community. Prior to this appointment, Mr Zipfinger completed more than five years in various roles as a Managing Partner with the firm. He is currently a consultant to the firm.

Mr Zipfinger is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.