Patron-in-Chief: Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC
Professor Margaret Gardner was the 9th and first woman President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1 September 2014 until 4 August 2023.
Prior to joining Monash, Professor Gardner was Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT from April 2005 until August 2014. She has extensive academic experience, having held various leadership positions in Australian universities throughout her career, including at the University of Queensland and Griffith University. She attained a first-class honours degree in Economics and a PhD from the University of Sydney. In 1988, she was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, spending time at MIT, Cornell and Berkley. In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Professor Gardner was Chair of the Group of Eight Universities in Australia from 2020 to 2023. She was also a Director of Infrastructure Victoria from 2015 to 2023, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) from 2015 to 2023 and Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council from 2019 to 2023. Professor Gardner was Chair of Universities Australia from 2017 to 2019 and Museum Victoria from 2008 to 2016 and chaired the Strategic Advisory Committee and the Expert Panel of the Office of Learning and Teaching (Federal Government Department of Education and Training). She has also been a member of various other boards and committees, including the Australian American Fulbright Commission, the ANZAC Centenary Advisory Board and the International Education Advisory Committee, which led to the Chaney Report.
In 2007, Professor Gardner was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to tertiary education, particularly in the areas of university governance and gender equity, and to industrial relations in Queensland. Subsequently in January 2020, Professor Gardner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.
Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC was inaugurated as the 30th Governor of Victoria on 9 August 2023.
Civic Patron: Sally Capp AO
Sally’s top priorities are setting the pace and driving a prosperous city economy, helping rough sleepers get more support and a pathway into secure housing, and ensuring Melbourne remains a global leader in environmental sustainability. She is committed to seeing Melbourne reclaim the title of the world’s most liveable city.
Sally is the current Chair of the Council of Capital Cities Lord Mayors, and also a member of the Federal Government’s Urban Policy Forum. In 2023, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday Honours for distinguished service to the people of Melbourne, to local government, to business, and to the community through various organisations. She was also named the McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year in 2019.
Sally was the first woman to hold the post of Agent-General for Victoria in the UK, Europe and Israel. She has also served as the CEO for the Committee for Melbourne and Victorian Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia. A passionate Collingwood Football Club supporter, Sally made history in 2004 as the club’s first female board member.
Sally began her career as a solicitor, after completing Law (Hons) and Commerce degrees at the University of Melbourne. She has held senior roles at both KPMG and ANZ, and co-founded a small business, which she took to the ASX.
She is involved in a number of charities, currently sitting on the board of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, the Mary Jane Lewis Scholarship Foundation and the Melbourne University Faculty of Business and Economics.
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