ICRAR is pleased to welcome Dr David Skellern AO as our new board chair.
Dr Skellern has worked in radio astronomy for 10 years and taught electronics at the University of Sydney and Macquarie Universities for 16 years. He came to prominence in the IT industry, co-founding Radiata in 1997. Building on joint research at Macquarie University and CSIRO, Radiata demonstrated the world’s first chip-set implementation of the 54Mbit/s lEEE 802.11a high speed WLAN standard. Radiata was sold in 2001 to Cisco Systems Inc, where Dr Skellern was Director, Technology of the Wireless Networking Business Unit until 2004. He was appointed to the Board of National ICT Australia in 2003 and was Chief Executive Officer 2005-2010.
Dr Skellern was formerly on the Board of the Capital Markets CRC (CMCRC) as a Director 2004-2019 and Chair 2013-2019, then Chair of RoZetta Institute Ltd (formerly CMCRC) 2019-2022 and on the Boards of eight other RoZetta group companies.
Dr Skellern is currently Chair of Quasar Satellite Technologies Pty Ltd, Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau (S3B) and Australian Innovation eXchange Pty Ltd (AIX), and a Director of Trovio Pte Ltd, METS Ignited Limited and digi.cash Pty Ltd.
In 2012 he received The Order of Australia.
“I am thrilled to join the ICRAR Board as its Chair,” Dr Skellern said. “The rapid advancement of ICRAR into a leading institution in radio astronomy underscores the visionary leadership, collaborative spirit, and commitment to excellence demonstrated by past Boards and management.
“It is particularly compelling that ICRAR at the same time has also emerged as a trailblazer in the global scientific community and a dynamic advocate for science and astronomy in the broader community.”
“We are presented with remarkable opportunities to expand the frontiers of knowledge and its practical applications. Our participation in the SKA project positions us to pursue even greater success in unravelling the mysteries of the universe. Moreover, by further engaging in interdisciplinary collaborations, we can broaden the scope of our research beyond astronomy. Together, we can aspire to reach unprecedented levels of discovery and influence.”
Dr Skellern will commence as Board Chair on April 1.
