Two Macquarie University professors – Bronwyn Carlson and Michael Sheng – were awarded the title of Distinguished Professor at the Academic Staff Awards ceremony on Wednesday 15 November.

Macquarie University Distinguished Professor is a title awarded to eminent professors of exceptional merit who have made an outstanding contribution to their field or discipline and to Macquarie University.

Congratulations also to the following three current distinguished professors, who have been awarded the title for an additional term:

• Distinguished Professor Michelle Leishman, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Distinguished Professor Michael Withford, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Distinguished Professor Nicki Packer, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering

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Distinguished Professor Bronwyn Carlson is Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies, Director of the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures and Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. She is the recipient of three consecutive ARC Discovery Indigenous grants, awarded for her work on Indigenous peoples’ political, social, cultural and intimate engagements with digital technologies. Distinguished Professor Carlson was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities for her work on Indigenous digital lives. She is a member of several industry and government advisory boards including for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and the First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Council.

As a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council, Distinguished Professor Carlson was invited by Senator Anne Rushton, the then Minister for Families and Social Services and Minister for Women’s Safety, to inform the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022 – 2032.

Distinguished Professor Michael Sheng, Head of the School of Computing, is renowned for his work on advancing web technologies. He has received recognition for his contribution to web service composition and his management of the ‘future web’, when billions of IoT objects will be connected to the Internet.

Distinguished Professor Sheng has been the successful recipient of 14 ARC grants valued at more than $5.5 million, including an ARC Future Fellowship awarded in 2014. He also received the AMiner Most Influential Scholar Award in IoT in 2019 and the Chris Wallace Award for Outstanding Research Contribution in 2012.

His research has attracted significant funding support from industry partners and government agencies with more than 20 industrial projects totalling more than $12 million. He was also a key founding member of the Digital Health CRC and the Digital Finance CRC.

In January 2022, Distinguished Professor Sheng was elected Vice Chair on the Executive Committee of the IEEE Technical Community on Services Computing, while he has served on the Technical Advisory Board of the Internet of Things Committee of Australian Computer Society since January 2019.

Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Carlson and Distinguished Professor Sheng, who take the tally of Macquarie University Distinguished Professors to 20. You can learn more about them on the Distinguished Professors webpage.

The full list of winners from the 2023 Academic Staff Awards is available here.