Experienced board director Ming Long has been appointed the new chair of national science agency CSIRO, replacing Kathryn Fagg, who has stepped down after more than three years.
Ms Long, the CSIRO’s current deputy chair, will also be joined on the board by new director in Vanessa Sullivan, a 20-year veteran of the energy, water and sustainability sectors, most recently on the board of AGL.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic will announce the two high-calibre board appointments on Friday, helping ensure “strong leadership and governance of the CSIRO into the future”.
Ms Fagg, a former chemical engineer who assumed the role of CSIRO chair from David Thodey in October 2021, has stepped down for “personal reasons” three-and-a-half years into her five-year term. She has served on the board in some capacity since 2018.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Kathryn Fagg. CSIRO has benefited from having such a pioneering woman in STEM at the helm and I wish her all the very best for the future,” Mr Husic said.
Like Ms Fagg, Ms Long comes to the role of chair after a stint as deputy chair, and with an extensive track record in corporate governance, having served on the boards of some of the Australia’s largest corporates over more than a decade.
She is currently a non-executive director of Telstra, QBE Insurance, the Centre for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) and IFM Investors, and was previously chair of AMP Capital Funds Management Limited and the Diversity Council of Australia.
“I am honoured to be appointed chair and acknowledge Kathryn Fagg’s significant leadership and legacy in positioning CSIRO for the future,” Ms Long said of her predecessor.
“I look forward to supporting CSIRO’s independent science and research excellence, in collaborating and transforming national challenges and priorities into opportunities for Australia.”
The appointments follows other board selections in the Industry portfolio and elswhere across government over the past week, as ministers clear the decks in anticipation of the election due no later than May 17.
On Wednesday, the government announced four new directors at Industry Innovation and Science Australia, filling positions that has sat vacant in recent months. It follows the appointment of a new chair in Peter Rossdeutscher last month.
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