The Members of the Board of Australian Synchrotron Company Limited are Mrs Catherine Walter AM (Chair), Prof. Rod Hill, Dr Sean Gallagher, Prof. Linda Kristjanson, Prof. Peter Colman and Prof. Max Lu. The Members of the Board of Australian Synchrotron Holding Company Pty Limited are Mrs Catherine Walter AM (Chair), Prof. Rod Hill, Dr Sean Gallagher and Prof. Peter Colman.

Catherine Walter AM, LLB (Hons), LLM, MBA (Melb)

Australian Synchrotron (ASCo) Board Chair Catherine Walter holds a first class honours law degree, a Master of Laws and an MBA, all from the University of Melbourne.

She practised law in major city law firms for 20 years before becoming Managing Partner of the Melbourne Office of Clayton Utz and thereafter a Commissioner of the City of Melbourne.

An independent non-executive director for over 15 years, Catherine has served on a range of governing bodies spanning many different industry sectors. In addition to her position on the ASCo Board, Catherine is currently a Director of Australian Foundation Investment Company, Melbourne Business School, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Catherine was awarded a Centenary Medal in January 2001 for service to Australian society in business leadership and was made a Member of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2003 for service to business, particularly as a director of a range of public companies, to the arts, to the law, and to the community through the Melbourne City Council.

Professor Rod Hill DSC(Adel), PhD(Adel), FTSE, FAusIMM, FAICD, FMSA, FRACI

Australian Synchrotron (ASCo) Board Deputy Chair Rod Hill is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Industry Engagement and Commercialisation, at Monash University. In this newly-created role he oversees the University's business development, technology transfer, intellectual property management and commercialisation activities.

Rod was previously Group Executive for CSIRO's Manufacturing, Materials and Minerals (MMM) Group of Research Divisions. During his time at CSIRO, Rod also served as Director of CSIRO's Corporate Business Development Group and Chief of CSIRO Minerals Division. Rod is currently also a director of the Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacture Ltd, Constraint Technologies International Pty Ltd, Nanotechnology Victoria, Trans-Tasman Commercialisation Fund Pty Ltd, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals.

With over 25 years research experience in mineralogy and crystallography, Rod has published more than 100 scientific papers  He has extensive research experience in neutron and x-ray (laboratory and synchrotron) crystallography, both in Australia and overseas, including 12 months as a Ludwig Leichhardt Fellow in Germany in 1987. In 1991 he was awarded a Doctor of Science from the University of Adelaide for his contributions to crystal chemistry, and in 2001 he was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to Australian science and technology. The mineral Hillite was named after him in 2003.

Dr Sean Gallagher BSc (Hons), PhD, GAICD

Sean Gallagher is Director of Programs and Operations at the University of Sydney's United States Studies Centre.

His diverse career includes roles in science, government, public affairs, and state and federal politics, including a period as science and biotechnology adviser to Australian Democrats leader Senator Stott Despoja.

In addition to the Australian Synchrotron (ASCo) boards, Sean has board and committee commitments with the US Studies Centre. He is also on the board of the youth support organisation Twenty10. He was the first chairman of the NSW Synchrotron Consortium of 13 universities, which is one of the Australian Synchrotron's foundation investor groups.

Sean completed his chemistry PhD in fullerenes spectroscopy at the University of Sydney in 1996 and was awarded the RACI Cornforth medal. He has performed research on proteins at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory in California. Sean has published nearly 20 papers and attracted research funding from the ARC.

Professor Linda Kristjanson BN, MN, PhD, GAICD

Linda Kristjanson is Deputy-Vice Chancellor Research & Development at the Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. Linda is also a director of Auscope Ltd, Australian Institute of Radiochemical Engineering, Chemistry Centre of WA, International Skills and Training Institute in Health, WA Technology and Industry Advisory Council, and the Australian Biosecurity CRC.

Between 2000 and 2006, Linda held the position of The Cancer Council WA Chair of Palliative Care. In this role, she created and led the Western Australian Centre for Cancer & Palliative Care. Linda has received competitive research funding from local and national organisations in Canada, the USA and Australia. She served as a member of the National Health & Medical Research Council from 2003 -2006.

Linda was chosen as the 2002 Australian Telstra Business Woman of the Year for her entrepreneurial work in health and science.

Professor Peter Colman, FAA, FTSE

Peter Colman trained in physics at the University of Adelaide before starting a career in protein crystallography.

He worked with Brian Matthews in Eugene (Oregon) on the thermolysin structure, with Robert Huber in Munich on antibodies, and with Hans Freeman in Sydney on plastocyanin before commencing his work on the influenza virus antigen neuraminidase at CSIRO in 1978.

Together with Jose Varghese (CSIRO) and Graeme Laver (ANU), he determined the structures of neuraminidase and its complex with two antibodies. In 1985 he co-founded Biota and led the research program that resulted in zanamivir, the first in a new class of medicines for influenza known as  neuraminidase inhibitors.

Since 2001 he has worked at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research where, together with a multidisciplinary team of colleagues, he studies the structural machinery of cell death and opportunities to utilise it in cancer therapy.

Professor Max Lu, BE, ME Northeastern (China), PhD, FTSE, FIChemE

Max Lu is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at The University of Queensland. Previous positions include Foundation Director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, and Professor and Chair of Nanotechnology in Chemical Engineering at UQ. He has served on many government committees and advisory groups, including the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council and ARC College of Experts (2002-2004). Current board memberships include National Centre of Excellence for Desalination, National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources, and Research Data Storage Infrastructure.

Max’s research expertise is in materials chemistry and nanotechnology, particularly in relation to clean energy and environmental technologies. With over 400 journal publications in high-impact journals, he is an ISI highly-cited laureate in materials science. He is also co-inventor of 20 international patents. Max has twice received ARC Federation Fellowships (2003 and 2008). Other prestigious awards have included the Chinese Academy of Sciences International Cooperation Award, Orica Award, RK Murphy Medal, Le Fevre Prize, ExxonMobil Award, Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia (2004 and 2010) and Top 50 Most Influential Chinese in the World (2006).