Advisory Board

Professor Harlene Hayne is Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University. Prior to this appointment, she was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago in New Zealand. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the Association for Psychological Science. In 2009, she was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to scientific and medical research.

Professor Hayne conducts research in the areas of memory development and adolescent risk taking. She is an Associate Editor of Psychological Science in the Public Interest and Memory, and is a member of the Editorial Boards of Infant Behaviour and Development and Developmental Psychobiology.

Professor Scott Bowman is Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) eighth Vice-Chancellor and President.

Since joining CDU in 2021, Professor Bowman has delivered a new strategic plan outlining ambitions for CDU to become Australia’s most connected university.

Professor Bowman has put renewed focus on CDU’s regional campuses, appointing senior leaders in Alice Springs, Nhulunbuy, Katherine, and Sydney. He has led a restructuring of the University and the establishment of CDU TAFE, a dedicated area for skills and training designed to meet future workplace needs.

Professor Bowman began his professional life as a radiographer, working in several London hospitals before starting his teaching and lecturing career. He left the UK for Australia to take the position of Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Charles Sturt University and holds a Master of Politics and Government, a Ph.D. in Clinical Decision Making, and a Master of Business Administration.

Professor Bowman joined CDU as a distinguished university leader, having served as Vice-Chancellor and President of CQUniversity (CQU). For over a decade, his vision and leadership helped transform CQU into one of Australia’s largest and most engaged regional universities.

Professor Bowman also served at Western Sydney University as a Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Other previous university leadership positions include Deputy Vice-Chancellor (University Services) and Registrar at James Cook University; Foundation Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Charles Sturt University; and Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Health Science and Community at the University College of St Martin (Lancaster University) Lancaster, UK.

In 2019 he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his significant contributions to higher education, training, and regional Australia.

John Craven is CEO of System 2, an Australian applied research charity dedicated to enabling young Australians experiencing disadvantage to thrive. System 2 combines behavioural science, systems thinking, and deep collaboration with those with lived experience to design practical, evidence-based solutions to complex social problems, with a focus on youth mental health, careers access, and early childhood development.

John is also an Honorary Fellow in Educational Equity at the University of Birmingham and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He previously served as Chief Executive of upReach, a multi-award-winning UK social mobility charity supporting thousands of less-advantaged university students to access top professional careers, and as Director of the UK Social Mobility Commission.

With experience spanning education, social impact, and policy, John brings to the ACSES Advisory Board a commitment to equity, evidence-based practice, and improving higher education outcomes for disadvantaged and underrepresented students.

Dr Nicola Cull is the Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion at the Australian Catholic University and the Incoming President of Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Association (EPHEA). She leads ACU’s Equity and Inclusion Unit and plays a key role in driving the University’s Widening Participation Strategy. Nicola has extensive experience in equity strategy, program design, evaluation, and research, including cross-institutional projects. Her work is informed by an interest in the interplay between structures and agency, particularly within higher education. She was awarded the Elizabeth Mary Dodd Prize in Education for her master’s research on inclusive education and has completed a PhD with the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, focusing on equity in higher education.

Professor Paul Harpur OAM is a Professor with the TC Beirne School of Law, at the University of Queensland. He is employed on a 4‐year ARC Future Fellowship supporting universities to become disability champions of change. He is an Associate with the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, chairs Universities Enable – a sector‐wide disability steering‐group, and is an ambassador for the Australian Human Rights Commission Include Ability Network. Beyond academia, Professor Harpur is a dual Paralympian, lawyer, 2022 Blind Australian of the Year, and in the 2024 Australia Day Honours, Professor Harpur was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia “for service to people with disability”.

Suzi Hewlett is a Strategic Advisor at the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance. Suzi is committed to enabling people to expand their opportunities through learning, to get employment, and to build a successful career as well as to contribute to a productive economy. She has both national and international experience in building education systems, particularly enhancing learning and teaching, in a range of positions within government, non-government organisations and the private sector.

Over the last decade, as a senior executive in the Australian Government, she led the development of and implementation of key aspects of the national reform agendas in tertiary education, schools and youth.

Professor Holt, a Worimi/Biripi woman, is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous at UNSW. With over 25 years experience in higher education, she was previously PVC Indigenous Strategy, Macquarie University and prior to this co-Director of the Wollotuka Institute, University of Newcastle. Professor Holt’s educational and research interests are in leadership and Indigenous education and health policy. She is a member of professional national and international Indigenous education committees and expert panels, as well as Chair and Director for local Indigenous community not-for-profit boards. She has shared her experience and expertise Chairing external reviews of Indigenous programs and services at universities nationally and internationally. Professor Holt is the author of the book ‘Talking Strong’ and has been recognised for her leadership in Indigenous higher education and community contributions, receiving national and international awards.

Professor Deborah Terry AO is Vice-Chancellor and President of The University, of Queensland, a position she took up on 1 August 2020. Previous appointments include Vice Chancellor and President of Curtin University from 2014 to 2020 and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Queensland (UQ).

Professor Terry is a Fellow of both the Australian Psychological Society and the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA), and is currently President of ASSA and Chair of the Australian Council of Learned Academies. She is Associate Editor of the British Journal of Psychology, and previous Chair of the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts in the Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences.