Ziggy Switkowski

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Ziggy Switkowski
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Assumed office
2011
Vice ChancellorMargaret Gardner
Martin Bean
Preceded byDennis Gibson
Personal details
Born1948
nuclear physicist

Zygmunt Edward "Ziggy" Switkowski,

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University).[2]

Early life

Switkowski was born in Germany in 1948 to

postdoctoral research
.

Career

Communications

Before his tenure at

managing director of Kodak (Australasia) from 1992 to 1996.[2] During this time, he served as a non-executive director of the multinational packaging company Amcor from 1995 to 1999.[3][4]

In 1995, Switkowski received the

Advance Australia Award
for outstanding achievement in industry and commerce.

Telstra

On 1 March 1999, Switkowski was appointed chief executive officer of Australia's public and largest telecommunications company Telstra, and to the board of directors of Telstra's pay television partner Foxtel.[2][3] Before his appointment, he was group managing director of Telstra's Business and International Development division.[2]

During his tenure at Telstra, Switkowski oversaw the introduction of a number of services to the company; such as its major

BigPond, and substantial expansion of others; such as its advertising and directories subsidiary Pacific Access (later re-branded as Sensis
in 2002).

Switkowski oversaw the implementation of the second

New Zealand Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange that began in September 1999.[5]
The first tranche sale of Telstra (the 'T1' sale) took place before Switkowski was appointed CEO of Telstra. He also oversaw the planning for the third tranche sale of Telstra (the 'T3' sale).

Switkowski resigned from Telstra on 3 December 2004, and was replaced by

Solomon Trujillo.[6]

NBN

On 3 October 2013, Switkowski was confirmed as the new chairman and interim CEO of NBN Co by

Fibre to the node[8] and the use of a Multi-Technology Mix (MTM).[9]

Nuclear research

On 6 June 2006, Switkowski was appointed to chair a

Commonwealth Government inquiry into the viability of a domestic nuclear power industry.[3] He was later appointed chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) by federal Minister for Science Julie Bishop
on 4 March 2007. Switkowski was originally appointed to the board of ANSTO on 1 January 2006, but stood down when appointed to the inquiry. After the completion of the inquiry, he was then reappointed to the board as chairman on 1 March 2007. His term as chairman concluded at the end of 2010.

The inquiry concluded that Australia is well positioned to increase its production and export of

dodging important questions such as the disposal of radioactive waste and the potential greenhouse gas
implications of increased mining.

Other directorships

On 19 September 2005, Switkowski took a non-executive director role with

Suncorp-Metway – his first position after resigning from Telstra.[2][3][6] Since then he has become the chairman as of the 2011 Annual General Meeting.[12]

In 2006, Switkowski was appointed president of the board of directors of the

Tabcorp Holdings on 2 October.[2][3][14]

In 2011 Switkowski was serving as a director of rare earth miner Lynas Corporation as per the director's Share Purchase Notice.

Switkowski was elected chairman of Opera Australia and on the board of directors of the Business Council of Australia.[2][3][15]

Switkowski was later appointed to the Board of Oilsearch.[16]

In August 2021, Switkowski was appointed as Chairman of Crown Resorts, Australia's largest gambling, gaming and entertainment company.[17]

RMIT

On 27 October 2010, it was announced that Switkowski would become the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University). He was officially appointed to the position on 1 January 2011.[18] On 7 September 2021, Switkowsi announced that he would step down from the position of Chancellor of RMIT by the end of October 2021, two weeks after he was appointed as Chairman of Crown Resorts.[17]

Honours

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Switkowski was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for "distinguished service to the community, particularly to tertiary education administration, scientific organisations and the telecommunications sector, to business, and to the arts".[19]

Switkowski is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and also of the

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE).[20] In 2015 he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA).[21]

Personal life

Switkowski is married and lives with his wife near

Cape Schanck, on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula.[3][22]

References

  1. ^ Seselja, Louis. 1999. Portrait of Ziggy Switkowski. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 June 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ziggy Switkowski BSc (Hons), PhD, FAICD, FTSE[dead link]". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved: 16 November 2010.
  3. ^
    Suncorp-Metway
    . Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  4. ^ Amcor Board Changes. 11 March 1999. Amcor. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  5. ^ The Telstra Story. Telstra. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  6. ^ a b Murry, Lisa. Kruger, Colin. 20 September 2005. Sun comes out for Ziggy Switkowski. The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  7. ^ Ziggy Switkowski confirmed as chairman of NBN Co by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  8. ^ "Malcolm Turnbull orders NBN fibre rollout to continue, for now". The Australian. 24 September 2013.
  9. ^ Mike Quigley, (September, 2015)Exploding Malcolm Turnbull’s Myths, ABC Retrieved 10 March 2013
  10. ISBN 9780980311501. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 8 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Media Releases". www.energyscience.org.au.
  12. ^ "2011 Annual General Meeting Results". Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  13. Government of Victoria
    . Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  14. ^
    Tabcorp Holdings
    . Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  15. News Limited
    . Retrieved 28 October 2010
  16. ^ Oilsearch notice to ASX Dated 19 February 2014
  17. ^ a b Ziggy Switkowski to stand down as RMIT Chancellor Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 2021
  18. ^ Dr Ziggy Switkowski appointed Chancellor – Openline (RMIT News), 27 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010
  19. ^ "The Queen's Birthday 2014 Honours List" (PDF). 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  20. ^ "Find an ATSE Fellow". Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  21. ^ "Fellows elected in 2015 | Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  22. ^ PR's for the judge. 10 September 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 November 2010.

External links

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