From a background in farming, Hendy Cowan became one of the long-serving and most accomplished parliamentarians in the history of Western Australia. For 27 years he was elected a member of the WA Legislative Assembly in the seat of Merredin, including 23 as Leader of the National Party and eight years as Deputy Premier of Western Australia. During his two terms in Government , Hendy held the portfolios of Commerce and Trade: Regional Development and Small Business. His achievements included the establishment of nine regional development commissions across the State and major advances in WA's export capacity and infrastructure in areas such as manufacturing, science and technology.

Following his resignation from Parliament in 2001, Hendy again pursued his interest in farming whilst undertaking appointments to various boards (including the Cancer Foundation and Notre Dame University) along with being a Director of the Exports Grain Council and IBC Australia New Zealand Pty Ltd.

Hendy Cowan is a recipient of the Federation Centenary Medal and holds Honorary Doctorates in Commerce (Edith Cowan University) and Science (Murdoch University).

Ms McComish has been a partner with KPMG since 1989. She specialises in external and internal audit, accounting advice, due diligence and investigative reports. Ms McComish has extensive audit experience in a variety of industries focusing particularly on financial services and the energy and natural resources sector.

Ms Chalmers is a Director with Productive Edge, a management consultancy with operations in Sydney and Perth.

Her qualifications include: a Bachelor of Business, Western Australian Institute of Technology, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting, Curtin University. She is a Fellow, Australian Society of CPAs and an Associate, Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ms Chalmers has wide experience in many business management and public sector areas. This experience has been gained working as a consultant in the accounting profession and in management consulting, and as an employee in both government and industry.

Her areas of expertise include: corporate governance; change management; business process re-engineering; Key Performance Indicator development; organisational assessment; strategic planning; and business recovery and insolvency management; Her experience spans both Government and Private Sectors.

From a background in farming, Hendy Cowan became one of the long-serving and most accomplished parliamentarians in the history of Western Australia. For 27 years he was elected a member of the WA Legislative Assembly in the seat of Merredin, including 23 as Leader of the National Party and eight years as Deputy Premier of Western Australia. During his two terms in Government , Hendy held the portfolios of Commerce and Trade: Regional Development and Small Business. His achievements included the establishment of nine regional development commissions across the State and major advances in WA's export capacity and infrastructure in areas such as manufacturing, science and technology.

Following his resignation from Parliament in 2001, Hendy again pursued his interest in farming whilst undertaking appointments to various boards (including the Cancer Foundation and Notre Dame University) along with being a Director of the Exports Grain Council and IBC Australia New Zealand Pty Ltd.

Hendy Cowan is a recipient of the Federation Centenary Medal and holds Honorary Doctorates in Commerce (Edith Cowan University) and Science (Murdoch University). He was welcomed to the University Council in April 2004

John was until its de-listing from the ASX in February 2007, the Chief Executive Officer of Alinta Infrastructure Holdings (AIH) a company that held an extensive portfolio of gas pipeline and power station assets across Australia and in New Zealand.

Prior to his role as CEO of AIH which he took up in August 2005, John was the inaugural CFO of the Gas Corporation which traded as AlintaGas and as part of the executive team oversaw its separation from the government owned State Energy Commission of Western Australia (SECWA) in 1995 and its subsequent privatization via a successful trade sale and IPO process in October 2000. John has over 25 years experience in the energy industry in various treasury, finance and accounting roles as well as risk management and business development.

Following its privatization in 2000 Alinta transformed itself from a regional gas distribution business into a major energy utility in Australia with its market capitalisation increased from approximately $A500 million in 2000 to over $A7 billion in 2007. Post Alinta and AIH John has taken on a number of independent non executive director roles where his energy industry knowledge, coupled with his finance and corporate governance focus assists organizations to achieve their corporate governance and growth ambitions. John is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Electricity Networks Corporation of Western Australia which trades as Western Power. He is a director of Emeco Holdings Limited an ASX listed mining services company and is the President and Chairman of the Board of CPA Australia.

John holds a Bachelor of Business with a major in finance and economics from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now known as Curtin University) and a Post-Graduate Diploma of Business in Professional Accounting from Edith Cowan University. He is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of CPA Australia Ltd. John also represents the joint accounting bodies in Australia on the Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants.

Kempton has been in his current role as Chief Executive Officer of Joondalup Health Campus ('JHC') since January 2002. Kempton was initially employed by Mayne Group Limited (currently Ramsay Health Care) in October 1998, based at Mount Hospital, and was appointed Executive Officer of JHC in January 2000.

Affinity Health Pty Ltd (and formerly Mayne Group Limited) managed JHC from June 1995 when, as Health Care of Australia, it tendered for the $86 million redevelopment of the former Wanneroo Hospital which quadrupled in size from 84 to 346 beds. JHC was the first hospital in WA to have integrated public and private facilities on the one Campus.

Born in Esperance, WA, Kempton was educated at Christ Church Grammar School and the University of Western Australia, where he gained a Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Management & Marketing. Kempton has post graduate qualifications in Accounting and Finance, and is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

He commenced his career in 1989 at KPMG, following which he worked with Banque Paribas in London and in senior financial roles with Vietnam Industrial Investments Limited and Axiom Properties Limited, both ASX listed companies.

Kempton has driven the $400m redevelopment of JHC from inception in 2002 to the current stage, including a substantial redevelopment of the existing facility and the planning and design of a private hospital, medical centre and proposed Community Clinical School. His current role involves negotiations and consultation with a range of stakeholders including government, staff, community and other health care organisations.

Kempton is also a member of the State Council of the Australian College of Health Service Executives.

Liz Prime is Director of Nursing at Joondalup Health Campus and has previously held a number of senior management and executive roles in the public and private health sector.
She is a Member of the College of Nursing and the Australian Nursing Federation. Active in the local community for many years, she has contributed to a number of community advisory panels and working parties concerning the development of social infrastructure in the northern suburbs and has been active in the local primary and high school P&C Associations.
Liz is a member of the Statewide Clinical Reform Group Paediatric Services Review and The Government Reference Panel for Review of Practice Protection for Regulated WA Health Practitioners.

Karen Macdonald is the former owner and operator of Bookcaffe; which is one of the largest independent booksellers in WA. She has a degree in Engineering and a Master of Business Administration. With twenty five years in small business and industry, Karen is seeking to utilise her financial and general management skills on government and industry boards. She is involved in her family business, operating a substantial cattle and olive farming enterprise in Cowaramup, where they produce superfine wool and award winning olive oil.

Norman Ashton is currently, working part-time as required through Horos his consultancy business. In 2004 he returned to Western Australia after having retired from the position of General Manager of The Smith Family in South Australia. Immediately prior to that he was for two years Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Adelaide, having had particular responsibility for Internationalisation and Development. Before taking up that appointment in July 1999, he was Chair of the Academic (Professorial) Board and of the Academic Council at the University of Western Australia, and an erstwhile Head of the Department of Classics and Ancient History there. His BA (First Class Honours) is from UWA, and the PhD was done at UWA and Oxford. He is now a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia.

Neil Douglas joined McLeods Barristers and Solicitors as a Partner is 2006. Prior to this he was a Partner with Minter Ellison, Lawyers and was head of the Government Division. For over 30 years he has practised predominantly in the public law field, dealing with constitutional and administrative law issues affecting federal, state and local governments, statutory authorities, agencies and employees. Before joining Minter Ellison in 1991, Neil worked in various senior legal positions in the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department in Canberra and in the Crown Solicitor's Office in Perth. He was a part-time legal member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal from 1992 to 1997.

Neil has honours degrees in Jurisprudence and Law from the University of Western Australia and Master of Public Law from the Australian National University. He is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the High Court of Australia and is an accredited mediator. He has taught constitutional and administrative law subjects at the law schools of the Australian National University, the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University.

Simon Holthouse is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and holds a Masters in Urban Design from Manchester University. Now retired, his professional experience includes many years as an architect and urban planner during which time he was involved in a number of major projects, including the development of Joondalup.

Mr Holthouse was Chairman of the Western Australian Planning Commission from 1995 - 2001. He has held numerous advisory positions and acted as chairman of committees in government, in the fields of planning, environment, education, water resources and sport and recreation.

Mr Holthouse is the Chair of ECU's South West Campus (Bunbury) Advisory Board.

Ms McComish has been a partner with KPMG since 1989. She specialises in external and internal audit, accounting advice, due diligence and investigative reports. Ms McComish has extensive audit experience in a variety of industries focusing particularly on financial services and the energy and natural resources sector.

Janet Curran is the State Manager of MEGT (Australia) Ltd and has over 15 years experience in senior management and leadership roles within the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. From 2002 to 2008, Janet was the Director of Training of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) of WA in charge of the FESA Training Academy and the management of training of over 36,000 staff, firefighters and volunteers throughout Western Australia.

Janet holds an Australian Institute of Company Directors Diploma, a Post-graduate in Applied Management and a Bachelor of Arts (Training and Development). In addition, Janet is an accredited Executive Leadership Coach, and in 2004, was a State Finalist of the Telstra Business Women of the Year.

Professor Ron Oliver is Edith Cowan University's (ECU) Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning). His key accountabilities relate to leadership and development of learning and teaching practices and policy to ensure high standards and performances in course delivery and course outcomes. He is responsible for the Centre for Learning and Teaching and the Library Services Centre.

He has a strong background in teaching, having trained and taught as a secondary school teacher before moving into tertiary education. In his previous tertiary positions he taught in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs in education and communications and led research teams at ECU exploring the design, development and evaluation of technology-mediated and online learning environments.

Professor Oliver has won a number of national and international awards for his university teaching and his research into technology-facilitated learning. He is a winner of an Australian Award for University Teaching and is an Associate Fellow of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Western Australia, Bachelor of Education from Murdoch University, and Doctor of Philosophy from Curtin University.

Ute Mueller has been a member of the ECU academic staff since 1994. She currently holds the position of Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, with duties in both teaching and research with a focus on geostatistics.

Ute has served on several University committees and is currently a member of the Academic Board and the Academic Staff Joint Consultative Committee. For the past four years she has been President of the Academic Staff Association and Secretary of the NTEU ECU Branch.

She holds the degrees of Diploma in Mathematics from the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany, a Master of Science in Mathematics from Concordia University, Canada and a Doctor rerum naturalim in Mathematical Physics from the Technical University of Clausthal.

Valentina Bailey's current role is as a Professional Development Officer within the ECU Human Resources Service Centre. She is responsible for providing training and development programs to ECU staff. This provides the opportunity to interact with staff at different levels of the organisation, and enables her to bring to the Council relevant feedback and comments, particularly of those at operational levels.

Having also worked in ECU International, Governance and Planning Services, and the University Preparation Course, Valentina possesses a good knowledge of the University's stakeholders, student journey, structure, operations, policies and priorities. With a strong commitment to professional and organisational development, she hopes that her term with the Council will allow her to better meet the needs of ECU's customers through enhanced understanding of the University's governance and decision making processes.

Luke Butler was elected to the ECU University Council in October 2011 and is the Vice-President for the Arts Management Student Organisation (AMSO). Originally from Melbourne, Mr Butler is currently completing his undergraduate in Arts Management at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Prior to his relocation to Perth in 2011, Mr Butler was employed in senior administerial roles within The Suncorp Group as an insurance policy underwriter and industrial relations representative from 2009-2011, and BlueScope Steel as an executive assistant from 2006-2008, working in the areas of risk management, marketing, human resources and finance.

In addition to his role on the ECU University Council, Mr Butler's extensive interest in the arts has seen him hold positions within JOY 94.9 (Melbourne), Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) and BJC Theatre Group (Melbourne). He is also currently a member of the marketing department for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) as well as His Majesty's Theatre (Perth).

A first year student at the Mount Lawley campus, David is studying a double degree, a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Communications. From regional Western Australia David has spent time studying on all three Edith Cowan University campuses in 2011. Having participated within several community organisations in the past he hope to bring not only those experiences with him to the University Council but to use them to help create and strengthen bonds between each campus and the communities surrounding them. Of particular interest to David is the environmental goals of the university as society moves in to a more sustainability focused era I hope to be able to help guide the university to create a clean, green and sustainable place of work and study.

David has many hobbies, which he hopes, makes him an approachable person. David is a keen photographer and enjoys a range of outdoor activities, particularly hiking. He is also a bit of a 'nerd' enjoying a variety of games and activities. In addition David is an avaricious learner and will read almost anything to help him become more informed on any given topic.

Brad has 20 years' experience leading and managing organisations. His expertise includes governance, strategy and building organisational capacity. He is Director of Organisational Capability at Integral Development, a management consultancy operating in Perth and Melbourne. He is also Vice Chairman of the Integral Leadership Institute, a not for profit think tank that conducts research into best practice leadership and organisations. In addition, Brad is Founder and CEO of The Sustainability Centre in Thailand.

Previous roles include General Manager of a public relations agency, CEO of a construction company, COO of a management consulting firm, Managing Director of a not for profit membership organisation, and General Manager of a firm specialising in venue management, events and franchised health clubs.

His qualifications include a Master of International Business, an MBA and a Graduate Diploma of Business in Management for which he received the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA Prize. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors with Order of Merit, the Australian Human Resources Institute and the Chartered Management Institute in the UK. Brad is a WA Business News 40under40 alumnus and recipient of a 2011 ADC (Davos) Future Summit Australian Leadership Award.

Julie Proud is a graduate of Graylands Teachers' College. As well as living in Perth and country Western Australia, she has also lived in Papua New Guinea, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales.

Julie worked as a teacher, a TAFE lecturer, in an administrative role in the mining industry and as part-owner of two regional newspapers. Her background has therefore given her a unique range of experiences to bring to Council.

Ms Proud has been the director of a small private publishing company since 1997.

On 7 March 2006, Kerry Cox started as Vice-Chancellor and President of Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Prior to joining ECU, Kerry Cox had been Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Ballarat for five years, after being Deputy Vice-Chancellor (at Ballarat) and Pro- Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Head of Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Dean of Biological Sciences (all at Flinders University of South Australia). He has been a research scientist at leading institutions in Stockholm, London and Melbourne in his field of microbiology/immunology.

Kerry Cox has a strong record of establishing linkages with government, industry, business and research partners. He has broad community interests and involvement. As a University Head, he promotes a pronounced service orientation and high standards of integrity. Committee/Board/Council memberships include the National Council on Education for Sustainability; the Business-Higher Education Round Table; the Australian Society for Microbiology (former President); the Australasian Society for Immunology; the Victorian Education Research Network; the Grampians Rural Health Alliance Network; the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery; Universities Australia and the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association.

Professor Cox holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Microbiology and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Western Australia and Doctor of Education (honoris causa) from the University of Ballarat. The title of Emeritus Professor was conferred on Professor Cox by Flinders University in 1997 and by the University of Ballarat in 2006.

Prior to joining ECU in 2003 David was Director of Research and Performance for the WA TAFE System and Deputy and Acting Chair of the national forum responsible for performance analysis and reporting in the Australian Vocational Education and Training System. David has 17 years experience in educational administration in the higher education, TAFE and industrial training sectors.