Former CSIRO head becomes chancellor at La Trobe

Australian scientist and businesswoman, Professor Adrienne Clarke, has been appointed chancellor of La Trobe University. A former chairman of the CSIRO and Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, Clarke has been a director of public companies including Woolworths, Alcoa, WMC, AMRAD, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Hexima and AMP. She is author of four major scientific books dealing with chemistry, cell biology and genetics, and has served on the Prime Minister's Science and Engineering Council and on the Victorian Business Round Table. Professor Clarke was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 1991 and Companion of the Order in 2004. Clarke is laureate professor at The University of Melbourne. She is also on boards including the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, the Australian Advisory Board of The Nature Conservancy, and has been a member of the La Trobe University Council since August 2010. She said education – learning how to learn – was the most important investment Australia could make for its future.