Business and Economics Board

The Business and Economics Board was established in 2007 as resource to the Faculty, keeping us in touch with developments and needs of industry and challenging us to become the leading Business and Economics Faculty and Graduate School in the region and one of the best in the world. In 2011 the Board is chaired by Peter Wilson Yates AM.

business and Economics Advisory Board

Role of the Board

The Business and Economics Board will normally meet three times a year with the Faculty and their role is to:

Board members

Board members bios

Peter Wilson Yates AM (Chairman, Business and Economics Board)

Peter Yates Peter is Chairman of the Peony Capital General Partnership and a director of AIA Australia Limited, Oceania Capital Partners Limited and MOKO.mobi.

From 2004-2007 Peter was Managing Director of Oceania Capital Partners, a listed private equity fund specialising in private equity and activist corporate situations. Peter was Chief Executive Officer of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited from 2001-2004. Until 2001 he worked in the Investment Banking industry including 15 years with Macquarie Bank. Peter has also worked for Morgan Stanley in Australia and Booz Allen Hamilton in Tokyo.He holds a Doctorate of the University (Murdoch) and a Masters degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Commerce degree from Melbourne. He speaks Japanese, having studied at Keio University in Tokyo.

Peter is also Chairman of the Royal Institution of Australia, the Australian Science Media Centre and the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne.

He is Deputy Chairman of Asialink and Asia Society AustralAsia Centre; a Board Member of the Australian-Japan Foundation, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation (Victoria), the Melbourne International Art Festival and The Centre for Independent Studies.

In the June 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours Peter was designated a Member of the Order of Australia for service to education, to the financial services industry through the development of the Australian Financial Management Association of Australia, and to a range of arts, science and charitable organisations.

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Margaret Abernethy

Professor Margaret AbernethyProfessor Margaret Abernethy (BEc PhD) holds the Chair in Managerial Accounting at the University of Melbourne and was elected as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. 

Maggie is recognised as a world-leading researcher in her field, contributing to the understanding of performance management systems in the not-for-profit, government and the private health sectors.

Professor Abernethy has taught across a range of subjects at the undergraduate and post-graduate level and has been recognised as an outstanding teacher.

In 2008 she was named Telstra Business Woman of the Year for the Community and Government sector in recognition of her contribution to higher education.

The Margaret Abernethy Scholarship for Leadership in Community Engagement was created in honour of her inspirational tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE).

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Paul Bassat

Paul BassatPaul is the principal of Avalon Place, a private equity investor in early stage and growth companies.

Paul co-founded SEEK in 1997. He was CEO from 1997-2006 and Joint CEO from 2006-2011. SEEK is the world’s largest online employment business and in 13 years went from a start up  to one of Australia’s top 100 companies with a market capitalisation of $2.5b. SEEK operates the leading employment sites in Australia and New Zealand and is a substantial shareholder in market leading employment sites in the major growth markets of China, South East Asia, Brazil and Mexico. SEEK has consistently been ranked as one of Australia’s best employers over the past decade.

Paul started his career as a lawyer and practiced for 6 years working on a range of corporate transactions.

Paul is as a Commissioner of the Australian Football League (AFL) and a member of the Mount Scopus College Foundation. He was appointed as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2009. Paul is also a member of the Melbourne Leadership Council of Social Ventures Australia and a director of the P&S Bassat Family Charitable Foundation.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Melbourne.

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Anthony Burgess (Chairman, The Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics)

Anthony Burgess Tony Burgess is Chief Executive Officer of Flagstaff Partners Pty Ltd, an independent corporate finance advisory firm.

Mr Burgess has 30 years of experience in corporate finance in Melbourne, London and New York and was previously Global Co-head of Mergers & Acquisitions for Deutsche Bank AG, based in London.

Mr Burgess holds an MBA (with Distinction) from Harvard Business School (1985) and a Bachelor of Commerce (with First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne (1981). He is a member of CPA Australia and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia.

He is a Director of the listed investment company, Diversified United Investments Limited, and is Vice Chair of St Vincent’s Institute Foundation.

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The Hon John Brumby

The Hon John BrumbyThe Hon John Brumby was the former Premier of Victoria (2007 – 2010) and has immense experience in public life serving for more than 10 years as Treasurer and then Premier of Victoria, 6 years as Leader of the Victorian Opposition and 7 years as Federal MHR for Bendigo during the period of the Hawke Government.

Since retiring from politics, Mr Brumby has accepted a number of Board positions as well as a joint appointment to both the Melbourne and Monash Universities as a Vice Chancellor's Professorial Fellow. He is Chairman of the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA) Superannuation Fund and an Independent Director of Huawei Technologies (Australia) Pty Limited. Mr Brumby is also a Panel Member of the Federal Government's Review into GST Distribution which is examining the distribution of GST funds to the States and Territories.

In addition, Mr Brumby is a Member of the Leadership Advisory Board of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) and Chair of the Head of School Advisory Council, Melbourne School of Population Head at the University of Melbourne.

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Terrence Campbell AO

Terrence Campbell Recognised as one of Australia’s pre-eminent brokers, Mr Campbell is the Senior Chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia and an Advisory Director of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. With more than 50 years experience in Australian securities markets, he has been a leader in the promotion and development of Australian equities on a global basis.

Mr Campbell is chairman of Mirrabooka Investments Limited, deputy chairman of Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited and a director of Djerriwarrh Investments Limited and AMCIL Limited. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and attended the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University in California, USA.

Mr Campbell is also involved in a number of community based projects as follows: Chairman Emeritus, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre Appeal, Austin Hospital; Australia Business Arts Foundation Councillor since its inception in 2000. In May 2007, Mr Campbell was appointed Chairman of the Australia Business Arts Foundation.

He is Trustee of the Sir Andrew Fairley Foundation since June 1999, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Australian Davos Connection, Vice Chairman of the National Gallery of Australia Foundation and Chairman, The Nature Conservancy Australian Corporate Conservation Council from March 2007.

Mr Campbell became an Officer (AO) in the General Division of The Order of Australia in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours for service to the business and the financial services sector, to the arts, and as a supporter of corporate social responsibility through contributions to community and charitable organisations. Mr Campbell was also a recipient of the Centenary Medal in 2003.

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Patricia Cross

Patricia CrossPatricia Cross is a non-executive director of National Australia Bank, JB Were and Qantas Airways Ltd.She is also a director of the Grattan Institute and Methodist Ladies College. Patricia until recently was a director of Wesfarmers Ltd., and previously Chairman of Qantas Superannuation Limited and Deputy Chairman of Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission.

She has previously served as a director of AMP Limited and Suncorp-Metway Ltd. Patricia was a member of the Financial Sector Advisory Council, the Companies and Securities Advisory Committee, and the Australian Financial Centre Forum. She has served on a variety of other advisory boards and not for profit boards over the last sixteen years.

Prior to becoming a professional non-executive director in 1996, Patricia worked for 15 years in various senior positions with Chase Manhattan Bank, Banque Nationale de Paris and National Australia Bank in New York, Europe and Australia.

Patricia holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and in 2003 received a Centenary Medal for service to Australian society through the finance industry. She is married with three school-age children.

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Paula Dwyer

Paula Dwyer Paula Dwyer graduated in commerce at the University of Melbourne in 1982 and she qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984. She is experienced in securities, investment management and investment banking, holding senior positions with Ord Minnett (now J P Morgan) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Ms Dwyer is the Chairman of Tabcorp Holdings Limited, a director of Foster's Group Limited, Suncorp Group Limited and Astro Japan Property Group Limited. Previous directorships include David Jones Limited, Healthscope Limited and Promina Group Limited.

In the not-for-profit sector Ms Dwyer is the Vice President of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Research Institute and a member of the Council of Geelong Grammar School Council.

Ms Dwyer is a member of the Faculty of Business and Economics Board at the University.

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Peter Gunn

Peter GunnPeter commenced his career as an interstate linehaul truck-driver; moving on to transport management and logistics. His career has spanned several mergers and acquisitions within the transport and logistics industry.

Over some thirty years, he started and developed a number of companies to ultimately form PGA Logistics Pty. Ltd. PGA was, itself, merged with elements of Mayne Nickless Ltd to form MPG Logistics Pty Ltd in 1999. He is now the Managing Director of the PGA Group Pty. Ltd., a family owned investment business.

Peter completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne and holds various positions, including Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, Trustee of the Australian Road Transport Forum, Trustee of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Member of the Australian Logistics Council and Member of the Prime Minister’s Supermarket to Asia Council.

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Paul Kofman

Paul KofmanProfessor Paul Kofman was born in the Netherlands and completed a Masters’ degree in Economics at Erasmus University, Rotterdam in 1987, and a PhD in Economics in 1991 at the same institution.

He commenced his career as a lecturer in Finance at Erasmus University in 1991, before migrating to Australia in 1994 where he has held a number of senior roles before his current position at the Faculty of Business and Economics at The University of Melbourne as Deputy Dean (Faculty) in 2010.

Professor Kofman’s main research interest is in quantitative finance, but he has also published papers in leading journals in international trade, econometrics, and actuarial statistics. He has undertaken consultancy work for the European Options Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, the Central European University, a number of Dutch investment banks, the Dutch Centre for Actuarial Statistics, the RACV, and the AOFM.

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Chris Leptos AM

Chris Leptos Chris Leptos is aPartner in the Melbourne office of KPMG. His earlier management roles includeHead of Corporate Development for Western Mining Corporation, and Chief of Staff to Senator John Button.Chris has undertaken numerous government reviews for both State and Federal governments; he is a Governor of The Smith Family; a Director of the Asia Society / Asialink; and a volunteer CFA fire-fighter.
Chris graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BCom (1980) and an MBA (1990), and is a Fellow ofboth the Institute of Chartered Accountants and of CPA Australia. In 1997 he was designated a ‘Global Leader for Tomorrow’ at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and in the June 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours Chris was designated a Member of the Order of Australia for his work on the sustainability of the global mining sector.

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Hugh Morgan AC

Mr Hugh Morgan AC Hugh Morgan is Chief Executive Officer of First Charnock Pty Ltd. He joined North Broken Hill in 1965, becoming a Director (1971-1976). Hugh was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Western Mining Corporation (1990-2003) and prior to that served as an Executive Officer (1976-1986) and then Managing Director (1986-2003).

Hugh has served as a Director of Alcoa of Australia Limited (1977-1998 and 2002-2003); a Director of Alcoa Inc. (1998-2001); Member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (1981-1984 and 1996-2007); Non-Executive Board Member of the CSIRO (1978-1983); President (1981-1983) and Senior Vice-President (2002-2003) of the Minerals Council of Australia (formerly Australian Mining Industry Council); Vice-Chairman (1994-1998) and Chairman (1998-2000) of The International Council on Metals and the Environment; Executive Committee Member on the International Council on Mining and Metals (2001-2002); Member of the Executive Committee of the Australasian Mineral Industries Research Association (1980-1988); Chairman of the World Gold Council (1989-1991); Member of the Earth Resources Development Council (2006-2009);

Hugh is a Member of the Anglo American plc Australian Advisory Board; Member of the Lafarge International Advisory Board; Honorary Member of the Business Council of Australia; Chairman of the Order of Australia Association Foundation Limited; Trustee Emeritus of The Asia Society New York; Chairman Emeritus of the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre and President of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation.

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Rupert Myer AM

Mr Rupert Myer AMMr Myer is a Director of Myer Holdings Ltd, The Myer Family Company Holdings Pty Ltd,  The Myer Family Company Ltd,  AMCIL Ltd and DUI Ltd. He is also a Director of Jawun-Indigenous Corporate Partnerships and The Myer Foundation.

He serves as Chairman of the National Gallery of Australia and Kaldor Public Art Projects. In addition he is a Board Member of the Felton Bequests Committee, the Opera Australia Capital Fund Limited, the Australian International Cultural Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia Foundation.

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Nilss Olekalns

Nilss-OlekalnsNilss Olekalns (B.Ec Hons. M.Ec., M.A. PhD) is Professor of Economics and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne. He has degrees from the University of Adelaide, the Australian National University, the University of Western Ontario and LaTrobe University. Professor Olekalns has been a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, a guest lecturer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and an invited lecturer for the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.

Professor Olekalns has published on a variety of macroeconomic topics including fiscal and monetary policies, exchange rates, output and inflation volatility, and interest rates His papers have appeared in leading scholarly outlets such as The Journal of Political Economy, The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Macroeconomics, The Journal of International Money and Finance, the Southern Economic Journal and the Economic Record. He has also received numerous awards for his teaching including the inaugural Edward Wood Prize for Teaching Excellence. He is the co-author with Ben Bernanke of the best selling introductory textbook in Australia, Principles of Macroeconomics, now in its third edition.

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Dr James Riady

University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Commerce 1977; Ouachita Baptist University, Doctor Honoris Causa, Christian Studies, 2005; La Trobe University, Doctor Honoris Causa, Letters, 2007.

Dr James Riady is Chief Executive Officer of the Lippo Group of Companies with listed companies and operations in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, The Philippins and South Korea. The Lippo Group is primarily involved in property, hotels and malls, banking and securities, retailing, health care and multi media.

Dr Riady is also the Founder and Chairman of the Pelita Harapan Educational Foundation which opened its first school in 1992 and now currently operates a diversified university with two campuses and 30 schools with approximately 20,000 students.

In addition, Dr Riady is Member of the National Economic Committee, Deputy Chairman of The Indonesian General Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia), Foundation Member, The World Economic Forum, Switzerland and also Member of International Business Council, WEF, Davos, Switzerland.

He was Ambassador at Large and Special Envoy of the President, 1988-2000 (including as Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia to Australia, 1988-2000), Republic of Indonesia and Member, Peoples' Consultative Assembly (MPR), 1988-2000, Republic of Indonesia.

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The Hon Jim Short

The Hon Jim Short Jim Short has had a long and distinguished career in the Federal Treasury, Federal Parliament and the private sector. In The Treasury, before entering Parliament, his roles included Chief of Staff to the Treasurer; Treasury representative to the UK and Europe; and development of Australia’s policy on external economic relations and foreign investment.

Jim was elected to the House of Representatives as Member for Ballarat from 1975-80; and as Senator for Victoria from 1984-97. He was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in 1992-93, and Assistant Treasurer in 1996.

On leaving Parliament in 1997 Jim was appointed Australia’s Director on the Board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. Onhis return to Australia in 2000 he was appointed Australia’s Special Envoy for Cyprus and served in that capacity until 2007.

He is a former Chairman of the leading economic consultancy ACIL Tasman; former Executive Director and President, and now life member, of the Victorian Branch of the Australia China Business Council; and is currently a member of theCouncil of the Australian Institute of International Affairs Victoria.

Since 2007 he has acted in an advisory role in the planning of the Future Leaders Forum, an annual one-day forum for the Faculty's top 100 Bachelor of Commerce students. Jim completed a BCom, BA and MCom Prelim at the University of Melbourne.

Jim was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977. In 1991 he received the 13th January Medal (Lithuania) awarded by the President of Lithuania in recognition of his many years working for the restoration of Lithuania’s independence and sovereignty.

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Nasser Spear

Nasser SpearProfessor Nasser Spear is GL Wood Professor of Accounting and the Deputy Dean and the Director of the Graduate School of Business and Economics. His previous positions in the faculty include Associate Dean (Global Engagement) and the Head of the Department of Accounting. Nasser's research interests cover capital markets, security valuation, oil and gas accounting, and international financial reporting.

He consults on broad accounting issues as well as quality assurance and accreditation in higher education and has led the establishment of several business schools. Nasser received his PhD from the University of North Texas and has published in leading international accounting journals such as the Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting Literature, International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, and Management and Information Technology. He co-edits the International Journal of Accounting and is on the advisory board of a number of international journals.

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Lynne Williams

Dr Lynne Williams Lynne Williams has worked as an economist in the public sector for over 30 years. She was most recently Under Secretary for the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF). Previous to this appointment Lynne was Deputy Secretary, Economic and Financial Policy in DTF a position she held from August 2006 - March 2010.

Lynne moved from the Federal to the Victorian Public Service in April 2001. Prior to joining DTF, Lynne was a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and Director (Economic Policy Branch) in the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

She started her career as a labour economist, working in several State and Commonwealth research agencies. These included the (Federal) Bureau of Labour Market Research, (Federal) Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, the (Federal) Productivity Commission and the (State) Department of Labour.

Lynne has Masters degrees in economics from the University of Melbourne and the London School of Economics. She has a PhD from Monash University, where the title of her dissertation was ‘Occupational Mobility in Australia: a quantitative approach’.

Lynne sits the Melbourne University Sport Board and the Board of the Faculty of Business and Economics. She a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) and of St Hilda’s College (University of Melbourne), secretary of Athletics International (Australia), member of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Research Committee, and a member of the Economic Society of Australia (Victorian Branch).

Lynne enjoys a regular jog, travelling to new places and following the fortunes of her and husband Ross’s two children.

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Kevin Wong

Kevin Wong Kevin was formerly a Managing Director of JP Morgan, as well as being the Senior Country Officer of JP Morgan Chase for Malaysia with oversight for all of the company’s Malaysian activities in investment banking, commercial banking and equities.

In his 18-year investment banking career with JP Morgan, Kevin had been primarily involved in corporate advisory and, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to his last assignment in Malaysia, Kevin had been previouslybeenbased inMelbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.

Following Kevin’s retirement in 2005, he was appointed the non-executive Chairman of JP Morgan Chase Bank Berhad in Malaysia. Prior to his career in investment banking, Kevin was a companies and securities regulator and before that, he was in the chartered accounting profession - both in Australia.

Kevin is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne. He is currently a council member of International House of the University of Melbourne.