EXECUTIVE PRODUCER – Sandy Verschoor
Executive Producer of the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Sandy Verschoor worked in Arts Administration, Strategic Marketing and Sponsorship & Business Development with Adelaide Festival of Arts, Come Out Festival and the South Australian Museum prior to Arts Projects Australia as Marketing & Development Director involved with WOMADelaide, Adelaide Film Festival, Australian International Documentary Conference, APAM and a National Touring Schedule. CEO of the Adelaide Fringe, Program Manager for Adelaide’s Vibrant City portfolio and 1998 Churchill Fellow, she investigated International Tourism Marketing of Festivals, worked at the Edinburgh International Festival, facilitated the Marketing (Arts) course for Uni SA and taught Strategic Marketing for the Masters program in Hong Kong and Singapore.
ADVISORY PANEL
Robert Phiddian -Chair
In 1991, Robert Phiddian came to Adelaide’s Flinders University on a one-year contract to teach English Literature. He is still there. Growing up in various parts of Victoria, he has a PhD from the University of Melbourne. Author of ‘Swift’s Parody’ and co-Editor (with Haydon Manning) of ‘Comic Commentators: Contemporary Political Cartooning in Australia’, he has published a couple of dozen academic articles that focus particularly on political satire and the quality of public language. His interest in public debate extends to his involvement in the Adelaide Festival of Ideas as an Advisory Board Member since its inception in 1999, and as Chair since 2009.
Peter Mares
Journalist and Broadcaster, Peter Mares presents the weekly public policy discussion program ‘The National Interest’ on ABC Radio National. Former Presenter of the daily regional current affairs program ‘Asia Pacific’, he worked as ABC Foreign Correspondent based in Vietnam in the mid-1990s. He is an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology pursuing his interests in migration, borders and rights. He has contributed to various print publications including several academic book chapters and journal articles. His book ‘Borderline’ analysing Australia’s policies towards refugees and asylum seekers, won prizes in the Queensland and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
Steffen Lehmann
German-born Architect and Urbanist, Steffen Lehmann is Professor of Sustainable Design, Director of the ZWSA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour at the University of South Australia. UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific, he has awards and prizes in Sustainable Architecture, and published books on Architectural and Urban Design. He provides high-level independent advice to governments, municipalities and industry worldwide on matters relating to design, the integration of low-carbon technologies, identifying long-term challenges and opportunities for cities. He has been a planning advisor to a dozen cities, including Berlin, Helsinki, Shanghai, Singapore, Ho-Chi-Minh City, Abu Dhabi, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and others.
Brenton Caffin
Founding CEO of The Australian Centre for Social Innovation which exists to identify and support the innovative ideas, methods and people that will contribute to and accelerate positive social change in Australia, Brenton Caffin began his career in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Consultant to Australian and British governments on public policy, performance improvement and change management, he returned to public sector reform through executive positions with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Government Reform Commission and WorkCover. He has degrees in Economics and International Relations and a Master of Public Administration from Flinders University where his research focused on Public Sector Innovation.
Chris Burrell
Trained in Medicine, Chris Burell completed a PhD in Virology at Australian National University, Canberra. He worked as a Medical Virologist at Edinburgh University Medical School, the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide, and University of Adelaide. Research interests include Hepatitis viruses, HIV, and the impact of virus infections on society, contributing greatly to our understanding of and ability to control virus diseases. His work on HIV/AIDS has led to new understanding about the mechanisms of viral replication in this infection. Making a significant contribution to the Arts, he co-Founded and is Musical Director of the Coriole Music Festival and intermittently performs his music..
Gabrielle Kelly
Film Maker, Digital Media Executive, Social Entrepreneur and Strategist, Gabrielle Kelly is the current Director of the ground-breaking Adelaide Thinkers in Residence Program. This program is designed to introduce rapid innovation into policy, programs and structures within government and private business in order to advance the state of South Australia. Powerful strategic capability in a global business environment underpins her reputation as an innovative leader and visionary change agent with a systems wide understanding of change management. She has significant public and private experience and leadership in Australia and the USA, working on policy alignment, cross-government capability and new digital product development for a global market.
Ian Gibbins
Neuroscientist and Professor of Anatomy & Histology at Flinders University, Ian Gibbons has over 100 publications on the Microscopic Structure and Function of the nerves that control and monitor the activity of the internal organs and skin. He is recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Lawrie Austin Lecture of the Australian Neuroscience Society. He recently developed significant creative output as an electronic musician and poet with poems published in diverse national literary journals and competitions. He shared a National Science Week Award for Unsung Hero of Science Communication in 2008.
Professor John Williams
Dean of the Adelaide University Law School, Professor John Williams has developed research to investigate water law and the regulation of the Murray-Darling. Founder of the New Federalist and Editor of the Australian Journal of Legal History and the Adelaide Law Review, he is a member of the Editorial Board of Legal History and other committees including the National Archives Advisory Council, is Vice-President of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law and Chairs the South Australian Fulbright Committee. A member of the Advisory Board of the Don Dunstan Foundation and UniBooks Pty Ltd, he was Consultant to the Good Offices Mission United Nations peace process in Cyprus.
Professor Kerin O’Dea
Director of the Sansom Institute for Health Research at the University of South Australia, Professor Kerin O’Dea’s current research examines diet and lifestyle in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (Obesity, type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular), with focus on elucidating the causal pathways and identifying critical intervention points. She has a particular interest in the therapeutic potential of traditional diets – especially Aboriginal hunter-gatherer and Mediterranean diets – and is committed to research that spans the spectrum from the basic biomedical to the population, and includes quantitative and qualitative methodologies. She is former Director of the Menzies Institute of Health Research in Darwin and government advisor on health and medical research, Indigenous Health, Nutrition, and Diabetes.
Loewn Steel
A Business Leader and highly effective Strategic Thinker, Loewn Steel has an extensive background in Advertising and Marketing, and vast experience in traditional and digital media in both local and global markets. She is the Chief Executive of Kojo Group Pty Ltd – a leading South Australian-based Digital Media, Marketing and Entertainment business with offices in Adelaide and Melbourne and an international and national client base. She is commercially astute with the ability to employ strategic thinking in Change Management, Brand Development, Business Diversification and Financial Growth. She built the Australian entity into an international success story.
Timothy Horton
Graduating with Honours in Architecture from the University of Sydney and starting his professional career at the NSW Government Architects Office, Timothy Horton worked in Sydney, Canberra, Los Angeles and Adelaide on a succession of award winning civic projects including Uni SA’s Hawke Building on North Terrace and the Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct and Giant Panda Bamboo Forest. He served as Chair of the National Practice Committee of the Australian Institute of Architects, as the South Australia Chapter President, and National Councillor until he was appointed Commissioner for Integrated Design by the Premier in July 2010. He is a Board member of the Jam Factory.
Sarah Macneil
Until recently Sarah Macneil was Dean of St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Adelaide. Her first career was as a diplomat in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. Since ordination in 1993 she has worked in a variety of church positions: as a parish priest, a school chaplain and in senior leadership positions at diocesan level, in Canberra and in Adelaide. She is a member of several national and international Anglican bodies. She has a strong interest in the nexus between church and society.
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