UNSW Canberra School of Business Advisory Board

Dr Matthew McCormack is the Head of School (Acting) and Senior Lecturer in the School of Business at UNSW, Canberra.

Matthew has completed over 31 years service as a Maritime Logistics Officer in the Royal Australian Navy.  He is passionate about imparting knowledge and creating a positive learning environment for the generation of physical asset fleet managers, sustainment personnel and major capital procurement team that will follow in his footsteps in the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Defence, defence industry and other public service agencies at the federal, state and local government levels.

Matthew is course convenor for logistics management, asset management and sustaining capability courses.  He also is keen to further develop the School of Business programs to ensure that those educated through the School of Business are well placed to cope with the challenges faced by the future workforce.

Dr Fiona Buick is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Business at UNSW, Canberra.

Fiona's research identifies key people management challenges within public sector organisations and how to address them. In particular, how to improve human resource practices and processes to build capacity and achieve desired outcomes.

Specific areas of focus so far have been organisational culture, performance management, middle manager capability development, machinery of government changes, employee well-being, and hybrid working.

Shibaab is a lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra.

His research interests lie at the intersection of public administration and organisation theory. He is interested in understanding the impact of social embeddedness on human behaviour and how it pertains to organisational stability, change, administrative decision making, policy implementation and general organisation of public management systems. He is also interested in exploring the micro-foundations or micro-level practices that underlie the aforementioned areas of concern, for example, the social embeddedness of individuals and their involvement in administrative work, the shaping of individual identity, and more recently, the role of emotions in shaping human behaviour. Much of Shibaab's work is guided by institutionalist approaches, in particular the institutional logic framework where he seeks to build and elaborate on theory.

Shibaab also has expertise in public sector leadership and leadership education in general. His philosophy on leadership is mainly guided by a practice-view that draws attention to the work leaders do on a daily basis. This approach lends itself to understanding leadership through the eyes of those who enact leadership – the everyday public manager – and empowering them to understand that their work is indeed what leadership-in-action looks like. Shibaab is a firm believer that leadership is separated from any positional authority and everybody can in fact exercise leadership. Shibaab marries organisation theory perspectives with contemporary leadership approaches to understand how leadership is manifest as everyday practice.

Sue Williamson is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at UNSW Canberra.

Sue is an expert on public sector workplace gender equality and has won international awards for her research in this area. Recent projects include: how public servants worked from home during the pandemic; women in public sector leadership; and examining barriers to women in STEMM. Sue is also the Postgraduate Coordinator for the School of Business.

Adam is the Executive Group Manager, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate.

Adam is the Acting CEO of the Suburban Landcare Agency and has a wealth of experience in executive positions both in the Commonwealth government and private sector since 2011. Adam has come from the ACT Government’s Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive General Manager for Corporate Services & Operations.

Adam’s experience spans from executive leadership roles to operational and governance positions. His most recent employment was the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (Australia) CEO for a period of seven years.

Allison is the Executive Officer to GE Enterprise Services Group, Bureau of Meteorology.

Allison specialises in Human Resources management, Leadsership, Recruitment, Learning and Development, Project Management, Performance Management, Research and Analysis and People Management.

Allison has previously worked in the Military, law enforcement and in various public service organisations in HR roles, both operational and strategic. 

Alison is the Chief operating Officer, National Gallery of Australia.

Andrew is a retired military officer with over twenty-six years in the Royal Australian Air Force, working all over Australia. He served on multiple operational tours and across a broad Defence portfolio. He has also worked as a Management Consultant at Deloitte and currently is engaged in Defence Industry.

Andrew’s experience lies in his broad Defence experience and contemporary industry insights. He has led teams to provide services over a varied client base working as a project manager, a HR consultant and Business Analyst. His leadership and management skills are applied across all his roles and brings significant strategy planning experience to the Advisory Board.

Andrew still serves as a RAAF reservist and is passionate about the ACT Brumbies.

Professor Andrew Neely is the Associate Dean (Research Engagement) at UNSW Canberra where he is also a Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology. Andrew is the National Director for the RAeS Cool Aeronautics Australia STEM outreach program.

Bruce has been the Group Chief Executive Officer for Aspen medical's global operations since 2015. 

Aspen Medical is a global provider of guaranteed, innovative, and tailored healthcare solutions across a diverse range of sectors - providing a single clinician to a full spectrum Health Solution including primary healthcare, tertiary healthcare, ambulances, evacuation and advisory services. Aspen Medical is the Prime Contractor on several health Public Private Partnerships that involve design, build, operate and maintain in their delivery. Aspen Medical employs circa 4,000 staff across 19 countries.

Prior to joining Aspen Medical, Bruce has a proud history of military service in Australia and the UK spanning 20 years. Upon leaving the Australian Defence Force, Bruce then held a variety of senior executive level roles in a global enterprise software company; a national building service company and a publicly listed company in the automotive industry.

In 2016 the International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM) appointed Bruce as a Fellow for his successful project management with a proven track record of working in complex environments. He is also currently serving on the UNSW Canberra Business School Advisory Board and as a Governor with AMCHAM. Bruce is a Director on twelve national and international Boards, including Aspen Medical Pty Ltd and Lifeline ACT. 

Chika is the Director - School of Professioanl Studies, UNSW City Campus.

During his career, Professor Anyanwu has held several significant leadership positions including Head of the School of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University, Head of the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University, Director of Partnerships for Southern Cross University, Founding Head of Media at the University of Adelaide, Head of Mass Communication at the Curtin University of Technology, and Founding Head of Media Arts, University of Papua New Guinea.

David is the Professor of Practice in Public Sector Management at UNSW Canberra.

He has over 30 years of experience through careers in the Australian Army, consulting, and government. He has practical experience in partnering with government leaders to design and deliver transformation through professional education, organisational design, behaviour change, and compelling communication.

David’s research and practice focus on enhancing the design and delivery of professional education courses in public sector leadership, management, and implementation. He works with government and industry partners to integrate academic research with practical experience to uplift workforce capability.

Drawing on his experience in leadership and management, David writes and speaks regularly about work, workforce and workplace challenges, organisational change, and behaviour change. He is the author of three books and numerous articles on people, work, technology, and organisation.

Deborah is the Associate Dean, Lifelong Learning at UNSW Canberra.

Professor Deborah Blackman is the Associate Dean Lifelong Learning; Acting Head Canberra School of Professional Studies; and Professor in Public Sector Management Strategy at UNSW Canberra at ADFA.

Her research focuses on public service management, in particular strategy development and implementation. Prof Blackman’s academic background is in a range of management and administration related fields: human resource management; organisational learning; knowledge management; training and development;  and managing change and organisational behaviour. 

The common theme of her work is developing effective knowledge development, acquisition and transfer in order to improve organisational effectiveness in a range of applied, real-world contexts.

Before joining UNSW Canberra in 2014, Prof Blackman was the Director of the Graduate Research Office at the University of Canberra, where she managed a small team that undertakes strategic planning, develops policy and delivers the Higher Degree Research research education programme.

Greg is the Program Manager at Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and a Lecturer - CTMC at UNSW Canberra.

Jack is the Chief Strategy Officer, CDC.

Jack leads the company’s strategy, growth, sustainability and engagement. Previously, Jack spent over 20 years in leadership roles in diverse environments, ranging from start-up companies and academia, to government, international organisations and large multinational companies, in Australia and abroad. Jack is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales, as well as being member of the UNSW School of Business Advisory Board and a Graduate of the Australian Insititute of Company Directors.

Dr. Jian Zhang is the Associate Dean Education (ADE) at UNSW Canberra at ADFA and is an Associate Professor in International and Political Studies in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HASS). Jian has held previous leadership roles within HASS as the Acting Head of School and Deputy Head of School (Teaching), prior to the appointment of ADE.  

Jian’s primary research interests are Chinese foreign and security policy, China's military modernisation, Asia-Pacific security and Australia-China relations. He is the Vice-President of the Executive Committee (2021-2024) of International Studies Association (ISA) Asia-Pacific, a member of the Australian Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (AUS-CSCAP), and an adjunct Senior Fellow at the Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP) at Stockholm, Sweden.

Joanne is the Director Education and Training ADFA.

Executive Director, Access Care Network Australia.

Rebecca is an Executive Director at Access Care Network Australia leading assessment, coordination and case management services across Australia, having previously held the role of Chief People Officer. She is humbled each day by her experiences with the ACNA team that is made up of 300+ people spread across Australia, seeing over 70,000 clients a year at their start of their aged care journey. Rebecca holds a Master of Management, is having a really good crack at a Master of Philosophy (Public Policy in the Aged Care Workforce context) and was admitted as a Fellow of the Australian HR Institute in recognition of achievements in workforce transformation and contribution to the profession. Rebecca also continues to contribute to positive workforce change in Australia through her position as non-Executive Director for Industry Capability Network Limited and this role on the UNSW Canberra School of Business Advisory Board.

Samantha is a Strategic Human Resource Executive - Workforce Strategy, Army People Capability Branch.

Tanya is the CEO Chief Collaborator, Tailored Solutions.

Tanya Hammond is a highly experienced researcher and management consultant in the area of people, people capabilities and structures. She has achieved this over the past 20 years working as an HR practitioner, management consultant, lecturer and facilitator.

Tanya has over 33 years in the industry, and is a highly experienced management consultant, proficient in the areas of business strategy, strategic HR management,workforce planning, leadership development and HR transformation. Tanya has worked predominantly across the Australian Government sector, leading HR-related initiativesinvolving benchmarking, capability development, business process re-engineering andstrategic analysis and plans. 

Tanya's main areas of expertise include:

• Workforce strategy & planning
  
• Strategic HR & HR Service Delivery
  
• Organisational culture & change management
  
• Strategy development
  
• Capability development of HR practitioners & leaders,
  and Facilitation of focus groups, workshops, conference and strategic discussion