Governor since 1987, Chairman since 1994

Mr Goode is the Chairman of the Boards of Diversified United Investment Limited (since 1991), and is Chairman Emeritus of Flagstaff Partners (having been Chairman 2010 – 2019).

In February 2010 he retired as Chairman of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group; in July 2007 as Chairman of Woodside Petroleum Ltd after serving as a director for 19 years and as Chairman for 8 years.

Mr Goode was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in June 2001. He is a Life Member of Philanthropy Australia. 

Governor since 2013

Tony Burgess is Chairman of Flagstaff Partners, an independent corporate finance advisory firm.

Mr Burgess has over 30 years of experience in corporate finance in Melbourne, London and New York. He is a Director of the listed investment company, Diversified United Investment Limited, a Director of Melbourne Business School Limited, Chairman of the Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics.

He is a member of CPA Australia and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Governor since 2021

Professor Sir Edward Byrne was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in April 2021. Prior to his appointment, Professor Byrne was the President and Principal of King’s College London, and Chairman of King’s Health Partners from 2014 – 2021.

At King’s College, Professor Byrne established a new university mission and vision for 2029 and significantly increased the range of degrees and programmes available to students.  Professor Byrne also founded the King’s Business School and through his work and connections with industry and business, King’s College has grown its global links as well as partnerships within London.

Governor since 2016

After completing his degrees Alex Chernov practised as a barrister for over 30 years in commercial law and equity and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1980.

He became Chairman of the Victorian Bar, Vice President of the Australian Bar Association and, later, President of the Law Council of Australia and Vice President of LawAsia.

In 2009 he was elected as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 and a Companion of the Order in 2012.

Alex Chernov was sworn in Victoria’s 28^th Governor in 2011 and as deputy to the Governor-General in 2014.  

Governor since 2015

Susan Crennan was appointed to the High Court of Australia in November 2005.  She had then served for almost two years as a judge on the Federal Court. Before then, Susan Crennan was a barrister for 24 years, 14 of them as one of her Majesty’s Counsel (Queen’s Counsel). 

She has been a member and chair of several committees of the Victorian Bar and the University of Melbourne, including serving as Deputy‑Chancellor of the University.  In 2008 she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Governor since 2007

Mr Davis has many years of experience in resource management, both in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and the United Kingdom, serving more than 40 years with Rio Tinto Plc at which he held a number of managerial posts around the world, ultimately as Chief Executive from 1997 to 2000.

He also served as Chief Executive of CRA Ltd. and was the Chairman of Westpac Banking Corporation from December 2000 to March 2007.  He was previously President of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, a Trustee of Westpac Foundation and the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Foundation.  

Governor since 2021

Professor Karen Day was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in September 2021. Professor Day is an infectious disease epidemiologist dedicated to improving global public health.  She is a founder of the scientific discipline of malaria genomic epidemiology.  

Professor Day is also an experienced educator and academic administrator in medicine and science and has held senior leadership posts in universities in the UK, US and Australia. She is an Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, having been one of the first women science “dons” at that College. 

From 2004-13, Professor Day led the development of interdisciplinary global public health programs as Director of the Institute of Urban and Global Health at New York University. Most recently she has been the Dean of Science at the University of Melbourne where she now continues her malaria epidemiology research.  

Governor since 2021

Craig Drummond most recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of Medibank Private Ltd, a position he held since July 2016. 

Prior to this Craig has had over 30 years of experience in the financial sector including chief executive roles at Goldman Sachs JB Were, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and NAB. 

Craig is currently a non-executive director of Transurban Limited and Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited and President of the Geelong Football Club.

Craig is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and is a Chartered Accountant.

Governor since 2021

Professor Emma Johnston was appointed to the Foundation's Board of Governors in September 2021. 

Professor Johnston was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at UNSW and Director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program for the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. 

In 2018 she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to higher education, particularly to marine ecology and ecotoxicology, as an academic, researcher and administrator, and to scientific institutes”. 

Professor Johnston is a national advocate for the Science and Technology sector, Co-Chief Author of the Australian Government’s State of Environment Report, and a Director on the Board of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.  

Governor since 2013

Professor Larkins has over 40 years of experience in medicine, science and higher education. Formerly Dean of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne; Vice-Chancellor & President, Monash University; and Chancellor of La Trobe University.  Other roles have included Chairman of the National Health and Research Council, President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Chairman of Universities Australia

He has also been President of the Endocrine Society of Australia, Chair of the Accreditation Committee of the Australian Medical Council, a member on two occasions of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council, President of the National Stroke Foundation, and Chair of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Council.

Governor since 2004

Allan Myers is one of Her Majesty’s Counsel (Queen’s Counsel) in all States and Territories of Australia and a barrister in England and Papua New Guinea. For 40 years he has practised continuously as a barrister, principally in Victoria, as well as all other jurisdictions within Australia, Papua New Guinea and England. 

Over many years Allan has held memberships and chairmanships of committees and foundations at the Victorian Bar, University Of Melbourne, Oxford University, Monivae College, Florey Neurosciences Institute, the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, and others. He was the founding Chair of the Grattan Institute. Allan is the current Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

In June 2016, was made a Commander of the Order of Australia.

Life Governor since 1993

Lady [Primrose] Potter has been an active supporter of the Australian arts sector for several decades. She was Founding Honorary Patron of the Melba Foundation, Founding Patron of the Victorian Opera Company and Patron-in-Chief of The Melbourne Opera Company. She has also served as director and Victorian Chairman of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust and founding director of the Bell Shakespeare Company, and Director of the Australian Ballet School. 

In the field of Contemporary Art, Lady Potter has been Patron of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, is current Patron of The Ian Potter Museum of Art at Melbourne University, Honorary Life Member of the National Gallery Victoria and was founding benefactor of the Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Lady Potter was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contribution to the community in 1988, followed by a Companion of the Order of Australian in 2003.

Governor since 2015

Brian Schmidt is a Laureate Fellow and Distinguished Professor at The Australian National University. Professor Schmidt received undergraduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 1989 and completed his Astronomy Master's degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University.

He won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics leading the team that made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating, He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, and the Royal Society, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013.

He is currently Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University.

Governor since 2016

Professor Fiona Stanley AC is the Founding Director and Patron of the Telethon Kids Institute, Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Western Australia and Patron of Murdoch’s new Indigenous health research centre, Ngangk Yira Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and Social Equity, which launched in early 2018. She is also a Director of the Australian National Development Index at the University of Melbourne.  

She is a board member of the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation and has previously been on the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  She is also a former member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, and has served on major international, national and local committees. 

For her research on behalf of Australia's children and Aboriginal social justice, she was named Australian of the Year in 2003 and in 2006 she was made a UNICEF Australia Ambassador for Early Childhood Development.