Monash Commission members
The Monash Commission brings together the expertise of eminent Australians, and global thought leaders, to inquire, provoke discussion and examine the true potential of intermediary cities in translating social and economic resilience, as well as liveability to a large urban metropolis in a COVID-19 influenced world.
Mark Birrell AM is currently the Independent Director and Chairman of the Australia Post Super Scheme and Non-Executive Director of Transurban. A well-respected leader spanning both private and public sectors, Mark brings a wealth of industry knowledge in the fields of infrastructure, transport and logistics. With a lifelong interest in cities and urban renewal, his past positions have included Chairman of Port of Melbourne Corporation, Chair of Infrastructure Australia, Deputy Chair of Australia Post and National Leader of the Infrastructure Group at Minter Ellison Lawyers. He has deep experience in public policy, having served as Minister for Major Projects in Victoria and as the founding Chair of the peak body, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. Mark is a past President of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and is also a member of the Monash Industry Council of Advisors.
Terri Benson is the Managing Director of Birdon, a diversified engineering and services business providing innovative solutions to the military and marine industries with operations across Australia, USA and Europe. A highly experienced Chief Executive Officer, Terri has held a range of both executive and non-executive director roles in the government utility and private infrastructure sectors. She has also held Chief Executive roles with South East Water, SEQWater and Essential Energy, and was a former Chair of the Energy and Water Ombudsman New South Wales. Terri is also a Board Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.
Professor em. Kees Christiaanse is a world-renowned architect and urban planner, and is the Founding Partner of KCAP Architects&Planners with offices in Rotterdam, Zurich and Shanghai. Kees is an expert in the development of university campuses and in the revitalisation of former industrial, railway and harbour areas. He is also a supervisor of several international urban developments, including master planning for the HafenCity in Hamburg and the new Europaallee development next to Zurich’s main railway station. Kees is the author of a multitude of books and essays about architecture and urban planning, and pursuing his global vision of an open city. Throughout his career, Kees has held various teaching and leadership positions with prestigious institutions, such as the Technical University of Berlin, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Singapore University of Technology and Design and, most recently, as Distinguished Affiliated Professor at the Technical University of Munich. Many research projects have been conducted with his collaboration, such as the Future City Laboratory (FCL) at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), which has been investigating contemporary urbanisation processes worldwide. Kees has received numerous honours including the ‘2016 RIBA International Fellowship’ and ‘ARC17 Oeuvre Award' and the ‘ULI Leadership Award 2018’.
Khoo, Teng Chye is a Professor in Practice at the National University of Singapore and was most recently the Executive Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities, Ministry of National Development, Singapore (2011-2020). Teng Chye’s lifelong focus has been on creating platforms for knowledge-sharing on the successful attributes of liveable cities. He is a leading expert in the fields of liveability, engineering and urban planning. He has held numerous Chief Executive roles with Singapore’s National Water Agency and Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, as well as several investment companies. Teng Chye is a Senior Fellow of the URA Academy and a ULI Global Governing Trustee. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Engineers, Singapore, and Vice Chairman of the ULI Asia Pacific Executive Committee. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2018, Public Administration (Gold) in 1996 and the Public Administration (Silver) in 1987 by the Singapore government.
Kris Olds is a Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has also held a variety of senior administrative roles at UW-Madison related to internationalisation and area studies, curricular matters, and educational innovation. He has worked as an academic in England, Canada, Singapore (1997-2001), and the United States (2001 to present). He was also based at Sciences Po in Paris from 2007-2008, and taught at Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in 2018. Kris’ current research focuses on the globalisation of higher education and research, as well as infrastructure, platforms and cities. His research agenda relates to his longstanding interests in the globalisation of the services industries (including higher education, architecture and property) and their relationship to urban and regional change.
Gabrielle Trainor AO is a non-executive director and advisor whose experience spans more than 25 years on Boards in the public and private sectors, ranging from infrastructure, financial services, transport and urban development to sports, arts and culture, and the empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She is currently a director of the ACT City Renewal Authority, and the Western City and Aerotropolis Authority. Gabrielle’s career has been characterised by her interest in creating quality of life through arts and culture, the public realm, design, sustainability and community engagement. Among many positions, she is a member of the Boards of Infrastructure Australia, Zurich Australia Limited, the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (Vic) and listed investment company WAM Global. Gabrielle is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Western Sydney University and a trustee of the Charlie Perkins Education Trust. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for service to the community in transport and infrastructure planning and design, and as a contributor to social welfare, sporting and cultural institutions.
Julie Wagner is president of the not-for-profit organisation the Global Institute on Innovation Districts, a first-of-its-kind practitioner-led network dedicated solely to the growth and evolution of innovation districts. As a prolific urban researcher, Julie has over 25 years’ work experience advancing cities and urban areas. Julie serves as president of Urban Insight, and is a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, an independent think tank based in Washington, D.C. She is also a visiting scholar for the Esade Business School’s Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics. A trained city planner, Julie served as a deputy planning director for the District of Columbia, where she developed the city’s long-range plan.
Jinhua Zhao is the Edward and Joyce Linde Associate Professor of City and Transportation Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He integrates behavioral and computational thinking to decarbonize the global mobility system. Prof. Zhao founded and directs the MIT Mobility Initiative, coalescing the Institute’s efforts on transportation research, education, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. He hosts the MIT Mobility Forum, curating cutting-edge transportation research across the globe. Prof. Zhao directs the JTL Urban Mobility Lab and Transit Lab at MIT. He leads long-term collaborations with transportation authorities and operators worldwide, including London, Chicago, Washington DC, and Hong Kong and enables cross-culture learning between cities in North America, Asia and Europe. He develops methods to sense, predict, nudge, and regulate travel behavior, and designs multimodal mobility systems that integrate autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, and public transport. He is the co-founder and chief scientist for TRAM Global, a mobility decarbonization venture.
Professor Ken Sloan joined Monash University in 2017 and now serves as the Deputy-Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice-President (Enterprise and Governance). Professor Sloan has extensive international experience in business development, commercialisation, university leadership and organisational governance. Professor Sloan has previously held roles as Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Warwick; as a Business Development Director, Universities and Higher Education, with SERCO, and as Special Advisor to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Education Foundation, based at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He continues to serve as a panel chair for Schwarzman Scholars. In late 2021, Professor Ken Sloan will return to the United Kingdom where he will take on the role of Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Harper Adams University in Shropshire.
Professor Margaret Gardner AC, President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, is the founder of the Monash Commission and the Executive Sponsor of the 2021 inquiry. Professor Gardner is a social scientist with a particular interest in industrial relations and human resource management. Professor Gardner previously served in executive positions with The University of Queensland and Griffith University. Immediately prior to coming to Monash, Professor Gardner was the Vice-Chancellor and President of Melbourne's RMIT University for nine years. Professor Gardner became the ninth Vice-Chancellor of Monash University on 1 September, 2014. Professor Gardner is Chair of the Group of Eight Universities and on the Boards of Infrastructure Victoria, and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). In November 2019, Professor Gardner was appointed Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council. In January 2020, Professor Gardner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.