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FDC Board of Governors

Management of FDC is vested in a Board of Governors, which comprises a number of eminent Australians who are active in development cooperation, business and public affairs.

Mr Robert Lyon (Chairman)

Bob Lyon worked for ANZ Banking Group from 1965 – 2008. The last 14 years were spent in the Asia Pacific region. Following his retirement as Managing Director, Pacific in 2006, he was appointed non-executive Chairman ANZ Pacific, a position he held until 2008. As well as chairing all ANZ’s Pacific subsidiaries, Bob has held several non-banking board positions including, Chairman of Quest Ltd. (Fiji), Chairman of Melbourne City Marketing, President of the Australia Fiji Business Council, Vice President of the Australia PNG Business Council and President of the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council. Bob is Chairman of the Kula Fund II (venture capital fund) Investment Committee. He is also on the board of the Pacific Economic Bulletin published by the ANU. Bob holds a Graduate Diploma in Organisation Development from RMIT University and is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute and a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. In 2005 he was awarded the 30th Independence Anniversary Commemorative Medal by the PNG Government for services to the banking industry. Bob also holds a chiefly title from Samoa. Bob and his wife Helen have one adult son and live in Fiji. Bob was appointed chairman of The Foundation for Development Cooperation in 2007.

Mr Stephen Taylor (Deputy Chairman)

Mr Taylor has extensive experience as a consultant and manager in the tourism industry, both in Australia and overseas. He has acted as managing director of Tourism Potential since 1994 and was general manager of the National Centre for Studies in Tourism and Travel for two years. Mr Taylor was also involved in the development and operation of several theme attractions in Australia and the US during the 1970s and 1980s.

Professor Vijoleta Braach-Maksvytis

Professor Braach-Maksvytis is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Innovation and Development) of the University of Melbourne. Professor Braach-Maksvytis is also a Director for the Australian International Health Institute and the Ian Potter Museum of Art. She was formerly the head of the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Commonwealth of Australia and a former Director of CSIRO Global development. Professor Braach-Maksvytis has initiated debate on the implications of emerging technologies, to suggest steering their global impact on social, economic, and ethical issues, and has represented Australia in policy areas with APEC and the EU. Professor Braach-Maksvytis is also the Chair and Leader of various scientific bodies, events and working groups in Australia.

Professor Peter Coaldrake

Professor Coaldrake is Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a position he took up in April 2003. He previously had been Deputy Vice-Chancellor in the same institution, and prior to that served for four years as Chair (CEO) of Queensland’s Public Sector Management Commission, the body established by the Goss government to overhaul Queensland’s public sector. Professor Coaldrake is Chair of the Board of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, and himself is a dual Fulbright Scholarship recipient, as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the field of politics/public policy (1980 – 1981), and as a Senior Scholar in the field of higher education policy and management (in 2001 – 2002). Professor Coaldrake is the author or editor of a number of books and monographs, including Working the System, Government in Queensland (University of Queensland Press, 1989), and co-author (with Lawrence Stedman) of both On the Brink. Australia’s Universities Confronting their Future (University of Queensland Press, 1998), and Academic Work in the Twenty-First Century (DETYA, Occasional Paper Series 99-4). He is also a member of the Board of IDP Australia, a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, and a member of the Board of Graduate Careers Australia.

Ms Elizabeth Nosworthy AO

Ms Nosworthy is a prominent former solicitor and company director based in Brisbane. She is currently the Chairman of Queensland Water Commission and Commander Communications Limited, Deputy Chairman of Babcock & Brown Limited and the Clean Coal Technology Board. Ms Nosworthy is also a director of GPT Management Ltd, Ventracor and Endeavor. Ms Nosworthy is currently a adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Queensland.

Mr Ian Clarke

Mr Ian Clarke is the Chairman of Gadens Lawyers, and is the partner-in-charge of the firm’s Papua New Guinea practice. Gadens Lawyers is a top-ten national law firm in Australia with over 100 partners and more than 1000 staff. Ian graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1977. He was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1978 and in Papua New Guinea in 1980. He was made a partner in 1984. His practice includes work on many major PNG projects. He visits PNG regularly and has lived in the country on 2 occasions for a total of some 8 years. His area of specialty is corporate finance and major projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea. He acts for a wide range of banks, investment houses and financial intermediaries. Ian also serves as President of the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council.