Peter Varghese

Peter Varghese

Peter Varghese began as Chancellor of The University of Queensland on 11 July 2016. Prior to this
appointment, Mr Varghese’s extensive career in public service and diplomacy spanned 38 years and
included senior positions in foreign affairs, trade policy and intelligence. Most recently, he served as
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2012-2016). Previous senior appointments
included High Commissioner to India (2009-2012), High Commissioner to Malaysia (2000-2002),
Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (2004-2009), and Senior Advisor
(International) to the Prime Minister of Australia (2003-2004). Mr Varghese was the author of a
comprehensive India Economic Strategy to 2035 commissioned by the Australian Prime Minister and
submitted in July 2018.
Mr Varghese sits on the boards of CARE Australia and North Queensland Airports and chairs
Asialink’s advisory council and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Editorial Advisory Board.
He is also on the international governing board of the Rajaratnum School of International Studies in
Singapore. He was awarded the Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop Asialink Medal in 2019 in recognition of
outstanding contributions to improving Australia-Asia relations.

Director and Founder of the Centre for Independent Studies

Professor of Public Policy and Director, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University

 

Sociologist, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney.
Author of The New Authoritarianism

Director, Free Market Foundation, (Hungary)

Health Director, Health and BioSecurity, CSIRO

Director and Founder, Academy of Ideas, London, (UK)

Founder and CEO, Cognoscenti Group

Executive Director, The New Zealand Initiative (NZ)

Australian writer and columnist for the News Limited Press

Research Director, CIS

Programme Co-ordinator of the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning, The University of Western Australia

Chinese Canadian human rights advocate

Senior Research Fellow, Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society Program, CIS

CEO and Founding Director, China Matters

Former Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives and Cabinet Minister

Pro Vice-Chancellor Arts and Academic Culture, and Professor of History, Australian Catholic University

Cancer researcher and clinical oncologist, with Genesis Care Newcastle

Founder and President, Middle East Forum, publisher Middle East Quarterly Journal, (US)

Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne

Senior Research Fellow and Director, Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society Program, CIS

Internationally acclaimed novelist and journalist, (US)

Head of Economic Research, Reserve Bank of Australia

Executive Director, CIS

Professor of Economics at Stanford University; Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and Chair of the Working Group on Economic Policy, (US)

UQ-CSIRO Chair in Personalised Nanodiagnostics, Professorial Research Fellow, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland

Diplomat, American Board of Pathology

Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure

Liberal Party Member for Berowra

Australia’s Ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011, Chairman & CEO of Geoff Raby and Associates Ltd based in Beijing

Director of China and Free Societies program, CIS

Senior Research Scholar, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University, (US)