The Go8 Board

Professor Mark Scott began his term as the University of Sydney’s 27^th Vice-Chancellor and President on 19 July 2021. He is a highly respected and successful senior leader of large and complex institutions, across public service, education and the media. His notable roles include Secretary of the NSW Department of Education (2016 to 2021), Managing Director of the ABC (2006 to 2016) and Editor-in-Chief of Fairfax newspapers.

Professor Scott began his career as a teacher in Sydney and held senior policy and leadership positions with two NSW education ministers – Terry Metherell and Virginia Chadwick. In 2011 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia. He holds an Honorary Doctorate (Letters) and a Professor of Practice (Education and Media) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of NSW and University of Technology Sydney.

Professor Peter Høj AC has over 20 years’ senior leadership experience in higher education and research and is the current Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide.

He was educated at the University of Copenhagen, majoring in biochemistry and chemistry, and has a Master of Science degree in biochemistry and genetics, a PhD in photosynthesis, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Copenhagen.

A member of the Australian Government’s University Foreign Interference Taskforce, Professor Høj was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2019 for “eminent service to higher education and to science, particularly to the commercialisation of research, and to policy development and reform”.

Professor Høj is a Fellow of Academies in Australia, the USA and Denmark, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and University of Copenhagen.

Professor Brungs commenced his appointment on 31 January 2022, joining UNSW from his position as Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (2014 – 2021). He was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research), UTS (2009 – 2014). In November 2021, Professor Brungs was appointed Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor, UTS.

He is a distinguished academic and higher education leader with extensive experience in the government and corporate sectors. He has held senior roles with CSIRO and McKinsey & Company, and leadership roles and appointments including Chair of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, the NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee; and member of the Universities Australia Board, the Federal Government Sustainability Research Committee, the Committee for Sydney Board, the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, and the Federal Government’s National University Precincts Advisory Committee.

Professor Deborah Terry AC is Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland (UQ). Prior to commencing this role in August 2020, she served as Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University in Western Australia (from February 2014 to July 2020).

She is a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia; an appointed member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Council; and serves on the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Board and Australia’s Academic and Research Network Board.

Professor Sharon Pickering is the President Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, appointed 29 January 2024.

Professor Pickering is a leading international scholar in the field of criminology with global expertise on border crossings, migration and trafficking. Her work across criminology and higher education has attracted numerous awards including an Australian Human Rights Commission Award, the Leon Radzinowicz Prize, the CM Alder Prize, the International Education Association of Australia Best Practice Award and the Australian Financial Review International Education Award. In 2018, she was made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Social Sciences. Professor Pickering has held an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship and ARC funding over many years and served on the ARC College and ERA panels. She has served on numerous editorial boards and held editorial positions with leading journals and publishers.

In senior management at Monash University, Professor Pickering previously served as Acting-Provost and Senior Vice President, providing leadership of the ten Monash Faculties, as well as the University’s international campuses: Monash University, Malaysia, Monash University, Indonesia, Monash Suzhou in China, the IITB-Monash Research Academy in India and the Monash University Prato Centre in Italy.

Professor Pickering has also served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Senior Vice-President with responsibility for education strategy, student experience, teaching and learning, scholarships, executive education, online education and related functions for the University.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne since October 2018, Professor Duncan Maskell was previously Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge. He is a Cambridge graduate and research specialist in infectious diseases, and an active entrepreneur. His career includes the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and Wellcome Biotech.

Professor Amit Chakma is the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Western Australia. He has served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario from 2009-2019.  Prior to his tenure at Western, he served as Provost and Vice-President Academic at the University of Waterloo from 2001-2009.

In addition to his university leadership roles, Professor Chakma has served as Chair of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 2017-2019. He was the Acting Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Asian University for Women from 2013-2015. He chaired Canada’s Advisory Panel on International Education Strategy from 2011-2013.

Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell trained as a cultural anthropologist, with a PhD from Stanford University. She joined Intel Corporation in 1998, where she held several key leadership roles. She was promoted to the position of Vice President in 2014 and recognised as Senior Fellow in 2015.

In 2017, Distinguished Professor Bell returned home to Australia and to ANU, joining the ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics (CECC) to establish the University’s first innovation institute, the Autonomy, Agency and Assurance Institute (3Ai).

In 2021, Professor Bell founded the School of Cybernetics within CECC, positioning cybernetics as a vital tool to help navigate major societal transformations.

Between 2019, and her appointment as Vice Chancellor and President of ANU, Distinguished Professor Bell has as a Non-Executive Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Vicki Thomson has worked in Australia’s university sector for  more than two decades championing its role as integral to the success of our nation and its people. She is currently the Chief Executive of the Group of Eight Universities and prior to this role she was Executive Director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN).

She has an extensive media, political and policy background and was Chief of Staff to a South Australian Premier. She is a Board member of the European Australian Business Council, Multiple Sclerosis Australia  and a former Board member of the Australian Government’s Australia-China Council and the New Colombo Plan Advisory Group. She is also a member of the Australian Government’s University Foreign Interference Taskforce.

She has been awarded the prestigious Insignia of the Knights in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Government for her continuing services to the growth of successful education relationships and programs between France and Australia. She also has significant experience and relationships with China. From the mid-1990s when she was first involved through her Government positions, she assisted the management of trade, industry and energy negotiations over a number of years. She has extensive experience in building relationships between business, industry and universities, and supporting increased access to university for people from all backgrounds.

She has been named by the Australian Financial Review in the top five of its power list for Australia’s education sector on multiple occasions.