UNSW Canberra School of Business Advisory Board

Professor Ashish Malik is the Head of School of Business at UNSW Canberra and is a professor of human resource management.

Ashish has work experience of more than three decades, working in industry, academia, and in several leadership roles in India, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. Prior to joining UNSW Canberra, Ashish was Professor of Human Resource Management at Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK, where he also was the Director of The William J Clinton Leadership Institute, Queen’s Business School’s Executive Education arm. Between 2010-2023, Ashish held leadership roles, including the Head of the Management Discipline role at Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia. Between 2001-2010, Ashish worked at The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, where he was the Head of the Centre for Management (2004-2010).

Associate Professor Fiona Buick is the Deputy Head of School (Education) and Associate Professor of Public Sector Management for 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 the Undergraduate Coordinator and 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.

Dr Vanessa McDermott is the Postgraduate Coordinator and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Business at UNSW, Canberra.

Vanessa is a sociologist focusing on governance, regulation, and organisational culture in both public and private sectors. Her research examines how decision-making frameworks shape perceptions of legitimacy, accountability, and trust, and how they can unintentionally increase compliance burdens and inequality. Vanessa explores regulatory impacts in civil construction, elite sport, and urban development.

Vanessa specialises in evaluating programs that aim to improve well-being and safety, translating findings into practical recommendations to influence policy and drive positive change. Vanessa holds a PhD from ANU and joined UNSW Canberra in 2020 after research roles at ANU and RMIT.

Chika is the Director - School of Professional 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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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 initiatives involving benchmarking, capability development, business process re-engineering and strategic 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

Joanne is the Director Education and Training ADFA.

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.

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.

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

Managing Director, Allygroup.

Rebecca has worked in leadership roles for the last 30 years, her most recent as Executive Director overseeing a national workforce delivering government services in the aged care policy reform arena. This expertise in high performance of distributed workforces is what she brings to Allygroup as well as her ability to effectively deliver on large scale contracts.

 Rebecca's strength comes from a combination of executive-level leadership experience and business acumen. She is a Fellow of the Australia HR Institute, holds a Master of Management from the Australian National University and is currently writing her thesis on policy implementation at the frontline for a Master of Philosophy at the University of New South Wales.  These strengths allow her to apply a unique perspective toward Allygroup's growth where people and talent continue to be the at the centre of our service delivery. Rebecca also serves on the Board for the Industry Capability Network and Advisory Board for the UNSW School of Business, Canberra.

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.