91É«ÇéƬ

Council members biographies

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Mr Warwick Negus AM

Official Member
Chancellor
BBus (UTS), MCom (91É«ÇéƬ), SF Fin

Warwick Negus graduated with a Masters Degree in Commerce from 91É«ÇéƬ in 1987 and is a distinguished finance professional with a career spanning over four decades across Australia, Asia and Europe. His contributions to the higher education sector began in 2001 as a founding member of the Advisory Board of the 91É«ÇéƬ Faculty of Commerce and Economics which later became the 91É«ÇéƬ Business School. He joined the 91É«ÇéƬ Council in 2008 and has been the Presiding Member of the Finance and Strategy Committee of Council since that time. He was appointed as Deputy Chancellor in 2020 and is also an ex-officio member of a number of other Council Committees. Warwick was the Chairman of 91É«ÇéƬ College Limited from 2017 to 2023 and was a Director of the 91É«ÇéƬ Foundation from 2009 TO 2016.

Warwick has extensive Board experience holding prominent board positions in the corporate and sports sector. He is currently the Chairman and Non-Executive Director at the Dexus Funds Management Limited. He is a Non-Executive Director of Virgin Australia Holdings Limited and is the Deputy Chair of NSW Rugby Union. His former Board positions include Chairman and Non-Executive Director at the Bank of Queensland (BOQ), Chairman of the Pengana Capital Group, Non-Executive Director of NSW Waratahs, Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co and Director of Terrace Tower Group. Warwick has also held senior leadership positions in the finance industry and his former leadership roles include Managing Director of Goldman Sachs (Australia, London and Singapore), CEO of Colonial First State Global Asset Management and 452 Capital and Vice-President of Bankers Trust Australia. He is also a former member of the Sydney Advisory Board of the Salvation Army.

Beyond his corporate and higher education sector commitments, Warwick is actively involved in community sports, serving as a referee in the Sydney Rugby Union competitions, reflecting his passion for grassroots engagement. In 2026, the Chancellor received a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the not-for-profit, education and financial sectors.

(June 2026)

Professor Attila Brungs AO 

Official Member
Vice-Chancellor and President
BSc (Hons) (91É«ÇéƬ), DPhil (Oxon) FTSE FRNS

Professor Attila Brungs is the Vice‑Chancellor and President of the University of New South Wales, having commenced in the role on 31 January 2022. A distinguished academic leader and scientist, he brings a rare combination of research excellence, senior corporate experience and public‑sector leadership to one of Australia’s leading research‑intensive universities.

Professor Brungs currently serves on several national boards and advisory bodies. He is Deputy Chair of the Universities Australia Board, a Director on the Group of Eight Board, and Chair of the Committee for Sydney Research Committee. He is also a member of the NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee and contributes to the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) as a member of the Higher Education Costing and Pricing Working Group. 

Professor Brungs has a deep understanding and experience in contributing to higher education policy, skills development and innovation reform at a national level. His fundamental belief that universities exist as a public good, serving the benefit of all, underpins his deep commitment to higher education and research.  A dedicated innovator, he believes universities have a critical responsibility to prepare their students for the jobs of the future and to be instrumental in creating those opportunities.

He is a passionate advocate for the vital role universities play in driving innovation and productivity, both in Australia and globally, and he is committed to harnessing the vast talents and ideas of students, staff, alumni, Council and partners to realise 91É«ÇéƬ’s vision of making a positive impact on the world around us.

Professor Brungs is a proud 91É«ÇéƬ alumnus, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry and receiving the University Medal. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Inorganic Chemistry, specialising in heterogeneous catalysis. His academic achievements underpin his strong advocacy for research translation, innovation and industry partnership. 

Prior to joining 91É«ÇéƬ, Professor Brungs served as Vice‑Chancellor and President of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles with CSIRO and worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, This cross‑sector experience informs his strong focus on strategy, productivity and public impact in higher education. 

Professor Brungs is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the Royal Society of New South Wales. In 2026 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to tertiary education leadership, to research and innovation and to social justice and equity.

(June 2026)

Professor Alex Steel

Official Member
President of the Academic Board
LLB (Hons) MA (Macquarie), GradDipLegPrac (UTS), PFHEA

Professor Steel is the President of the Academic Board and a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice, with interests in legal education and criminal law. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the 91É«ÇéƬ Scientia Education Academy.  His contributions to legal education have been recognised with the Council of Australian Law Dean's Outstanding Career Achievement Award,  and a Commonwealth Government Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.

Professor Steel’s previous leadership positions include Interim Pro Vice Chancellor Education (2019-20 and 2023-4), Director Teaching Strategy (2020-23), Director AI Strategy Education (2024-5), Law Associate Dean Education (2009-14) and Law Associate Dean Academic (2014-2016). He has been a member of the Education and Criminal Law Committees of the NSW Bar Association and an expert advisor to the NSW Law Reform Commission. He has also worked as a Policy Officer and subsequently as a Consultant to the NSW Attorney General's Department, Criminal Law Review Division.

He has led initiatives to develop and implement a university wide digital assessment platform, develop the university’s strategic responses to generative AI in education, and respond to the educational impacts of the COVID pandemic. He has extensive experience in curriculum development and review, both face to face and digital, with a particular focus on assessment formats and structures. He was a member of the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee (2013-24) and has written commissioned Best Practice Guides for legal education.  He was previously co-convenor of the Legal Education Associate Deans (LEAD) Network (2012-16), been on the Executive of the Australasian Law Teachers Association and remains on the Editorial Committee of the Legal Education Review. Professor Steel’s education related publications range across the pedagogy and regulation of legal education, curriculum design, assessment practices, student wellbeing and support for sessional academics.  He is currently examining the impact of generative AI on legal education. In the criminal law field he has published widely on property, dishonesty and identity crimes. He has produced detailed law reform reports for Government and made submissions to law reform bodies.

(1 January 2026)

The Hon Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman

Ministerial Appointment
LLB BA (USyd)

The Hon Justice Cheeseman graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in 1990. Justice Cheeseman spent the first 5 years of her career as a solicitor. She practised at the Bar from 1996 to 2021 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2012. She was a founding member of New Chambers and succeeded David Jackson KC as head of chambers.

At the Bar, Justice Cheeseman specialised in commercial, corporate, banking, regulatory (focussing on financial services, superannuation and markets) and insurance law. She also practised in proceeds of crime litigation.

Justice Cheeseman was the chair of the New South Wales Bar Association Practice Development Committee from 2015 to 2019, chair of the New South Wales Bar Association Working Party on the Australian Law Reform Committee Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third Party Litigation Funders in 2018 and a member of a New South Wales Bar Association Professional Conduct Committee from 2011 to 2015.

Justice Cheeseman was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia on 12 April 2021. Her Honour sits in the following National Practice Areas of the Court ‑ Intellectual Property NPA: Trade Marks and Copyright & Industrial Design; Commercial & Corporations NPA: Commercial Contracts, Banking, Finance & Insurance, Corporations & Corporate Insolvency, General & Personal Insolvency, Economic Regulator, Competition & Access and Regulator & Consumer Protection; Native Title NPA and Other Federal Jurisdiction NPA: Defamation.

Aunty Maxine Ryan

Ministerial Appointment
Dip of Aboriginal Education (Usyd)

Aunty Maxine is an Elder of the local Aboriginal community of Botany Bay. She has worked in Aboriginal education across various settings in employment and mentoring roles. As an Aboriginal Education Assistant, she has focused on education outcomes collaborating with staff and students, including students with disabilities. She has worked on infusing regular teaching with Aboriginal perspective as a Cultural Resident across primary schools in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. She has a long-term connection with 91É«ÇéƬ and uses her lived experience and indigenous knowledge to create a place of belonging for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students and staff in 91É«ÇéƬ.

(13 January 2025)

Ms Luan Atkinson

Member appointed by Council
LLB BCom (UWA) LLM (Harvard)

Luan Atkinson is the former CEO of Renewable Metals, a start-up commercialising novel technology to recycle lithium-ion batteries, backed by leading climate-tech investors and supported by grants from both Australian and UK governments. She was previously a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of SouthPeak Investment Management, an alternative investment manager based in Sydney and Connecticut, US and she has held senior roles at Deutsche Bank, Perpetual Ltd, and McKinsey & Company. Luan served as an independent director of Russell Investments’ superannuation trustee, where she chaired the Investment Committee.

A commerce/law graduate of the University of Western Australia, Luan holds a Master of Laws and International Tax Program certificate from Harvard University where she was awarded a Menzies Scholarship and Australian Law Council Business Law Fellowship. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and has completed the Advanced Trustee Directors Course with the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).

(August 2026)

Professor Glyn Davis AC

Member appointed by Council
TBA

Professor Davis is a nationally respected public policy leader with over four decades of experience across government, higher education, and philanthropy. He is the Former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Vice-Chancellor of two major Australian universities, and the Chief Executive Officer of Paul Ramsay Foundation. He is recognised for rebuilding public service capacity, advancing educational reform, and championing equity and integrity in governance.

Professor Davis has held senior leadership positions in the Government, education sector and has extensive board experience.  He was the Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Government (June 2022 – June 2025), the Chief Executive Officer, Paul Ramsay Foundation (Dec 2018 – June 2022), Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne (Jan 2005 – Sept 2018), Vice-Chancellor, Griffith University (Jan 2002 – Dec 2004), Foundation Chair, Australia and New Zealand School of Government (2002 –2006), the Director-General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Queensland Government, (1998-2002) and the Director-General, Office of the Cabinet, Queensland Government (1995 – 1996). He is currently the Chair of Opera Australia and board member of Queensland and Melbourne Theatre Companies. Previously he has partnered with Indigenous programs in Goulburn–Murray Valley and Cape York. He has director position in the  Menzies Foundation, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative and the Centre for Social Impact. He was a member of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Professor Davis has held several academic positions in the higher education sector in various institutions ( Griffith University, University of Melbourne, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Exeter College, Oxford, King’s College London and the University of Manchester). He has been the Chair of Universities Australia and the Group of Eight.

(1 January 2026)

Mr James Hooke

Member appointed by Council
BA LLB (91É«ÇéƬ)

James Hooke is a seasoned executive and company leader with extensive global experience across governance, investment, infrastructure, and media. He has served as CEO of publicly listed companies in both the United States and Australia and held senior roles in diverse sectors and geographies including Europe, Asia, and North America. He has sector experience in infrastructure (airports, toll roads), energy (solar, wind, thermal), logistics, media, real estate and financial services. He is currently the Chairman and the Investment Committee member of LongView residential real estate, the Director of Enliven Housing Group (Specialised Disability Accommodation), Director of Silicon Quantum Computing, committee member of the Law School Advisory Board and Chair of the Finance Committee, Dusseldorp Foundation.

(August 2026)

Mr Mark Johnson

Member appointed by Council
Deputy Chancellor
BCom (91É«ÇéƬ), FCA, CPS, FAICD

Mark Johnson is an experienced Australian company director and governance leader. He currently holds non executive director roles with Goodman Group, Metcash Limited, Seven Group Holdings Limited, Sydney Airport Limited and the Aurecon Group contributing extensive expertise in audit, risk, finance and strategic oversight across listed and regulated organisations. 

He has been a former director of a number of companies like the Hospital Contributions Fund of Australia (HCF),  Coca-Cola Amatil, The Smith Family, G8 Education , the Westfield Corporation and the  HSBC Bank Australia. Prior to his board career, Mr Johnson spent more than 30 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, spanning roles of Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Chairman and a member of PwC’s Global Strategy Council. 

Mark Johnson holds a Bachelor of Commerce from 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Certified Practising Accountant, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

(April 2026)

Vacant

Member appointed by Council
TBC

Nil (to be available)

Associate Professor Ntina Tzouvala

Elected Member of Academic Staff
PhD (Durham)

Dr Ntina Tzouvala joined 91É«ÇéƬ in January 2025. Prior to this, she was an associate professor at the ANU College of Law. Her work focuses on the history, theory and political economy of international law. She is especially interested in historical materialism, deconstruction, feminist and queer legal theory. Her first monograph, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law, was published by Cambridge University Press in late 2020. Her book was awarded the 2022 ASIL Certificate of Merit for a preeminent contribution to creative scholarship and the Australian Legal Research Award (ALRA) in the book category. In addition, it was shortlisted for the Deutscher Prize and was awarded a honourable mention in the context of the 2021 Sussex Prize in International Theory. Her work has also appeared in leading international law journals, including the European Journal of International Law, the Leiden Journal of International Law and the Journal of International Economic Law.

(July 2026)

Dr Lana Tatour

Elected Member of Academic Staff
PhD (Warwick)

Lana Tatour is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney and is the co-convener of the International Studies BA program. Lana works on settler colonialism, indigeneity, race, and human rights. Her co-edited book, Race and the Question of Palestine is forthcoming with Stanford University Press in 2025. She is Associate at the Australian Human Rights Institute, a Member at the Centre for Criminology Law and Justice, and a member of editorial board of the Australian Journal of Human Rights. Lana previously held the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University (NYC).

(July 2024)

Mr Tomas Kaiser

Elected Member of Professional Staff
TBA

Tomas Kaiser is the Head of Partnerships and Engagement for 91É«ÇéƬ IT, leading strategic engagement across faculties and divisions to align technology with institutional priorities. He has over 15 years’ experience at 91É«ÇéƬ in leadership and operational roles.

Tomas works with colleagues across the University to build trusted partnerships that ensure technology investments grow organisational capability, improve service delivery and enhance staff and student experience.  He supported a number of major transformation initiatives across academic, research and operational domains, most recently within the Faculty of Medicine & Health.

He contributes to governance and advisory forums on student, staff and research experience, AI and innovation with a focus on staff enablement and responsible AI adoption. Tomas is a Certified Business Relationship Management Professional.

As an elected professional staff member of Council, he brings a broad operational perspective and a strong focus on collaboration.

(July 2026)

Mr Suhail Rashid Bhat

Elected Student Member - Postgraduate Student
LLM (London), LLB (India)

TBA

(July 2026)

Mr Thomas Johnston

Elected Student Member - Undergraduate Student

Thomas Johnston is currently completing a Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine at 91É«ÇéƬ. Prior to studying medicine, he undertook two years of a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney as a Dalyell Scholar, where he was selected as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honour society for business students. His experience across multiple faculties and campuses has given him a broad understanding of the academic, financial, and practical challenges students face as they transition into university and progress through their degrees.

Thomas has served as a First Year Representative for the 91É«ÇéƬ Medical Society, where he supported the wellbeing of new students as they adjusted to university life. Beyond university, Thomas has a longstanding commitment to social justice and community advocacy. He serves on the NSW Executive Committee of the United Nations Association of Australia Young Professionals Network, working to engage local communities in advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. He has also led and delivered volunteer initiatives supporting a range of non-government organisations, including Youth Off The Streets, the Justice and Equity Centre, Rare Cancers Australia, and the Leukaemia Foundation.

On the 91É«ÇéƬ Council, Thomas is focused on advocating for students as they navigate the everyday pressures of university life, including the need to balance study, work, wellbeing, and financial responsibilities. He is committed to fostering a university culture where students feel supported, represented, and empowered to make the most of their time at 91É«ÇéƬ and pursue meaningful futures beyond university.

(July 2026)