New ANSTO board members appointed

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has announced the appointments of Professor Margaret Sheil and Professor Brigid Heywood to the ANSTO board.

Professor Sheil has been the provost at the University of Melbourne since April 2012 and has previously held significant positions across numerous committees, advisory boards and specialist technical institutes. She was CEO of the Australian Research Council for five years and prior to that was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Dean of Science and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wollongong.

Professor Heywood is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Tasmania, where she is responsible for the university’s research and innovation strategy, research institutes, students infrastructure and commercialisation services. She was the first woman in the United Kingdom to hold an established Chair in Inorganic Chemistry, which is particularly notable given her founding disciplinary background in biological studies.

“The ANSTO board is thrilled to welcome Professor Sheil and Professor Heywood to our organisation,” said ANSTO CEO Dr Adi Paterson.

“The depth and breadth of their work histories across the science, health and research sectors both in Australia and abroad will bring invaluable insights to ANSTO.”

Dr Paterson said Professors Sheil and Heywood join ANSTO at “an exciting time”, with construction of the ANSTO Nuclear Medicine facility currently going into its last phases. The organisation has also recently been made the official owner of the Australian Synchrotron.