Board of Directors

Chair: Sam Walsh AO
Deputy Chair: Andrew Drayton
Deputy Chair: Duncan Ord
Treasurer: Craig Yaxley
Directors: Alan Cransberg, Rob McKenzie, Kate O'Hara, Vicki Robinson and Prof Alan Robson AM

Sam Walsh AO

Sam Walsh has been the Chief executive of Australia & Iron Ore - Rio Tinto since 2004 and before that was the Chief executive of Rio Tinto’s aluminium business between 2001 and 2004. Before joining Rio Tinto in 1991, he spent 20 years in the automotive industry at General Motors and Nissan Australia. In 2001, he was honoured as an Australian Export Hero and Western Australian Citizen of the Year – Industry & Commerce. He is a Director of West Australian Newspapers and the Committee for Perth; the Chair of WA Chapter of the Australia Business Arts Foundation; Patron of State Library Foundation; a Patron of the UWA Hackett Foundation. In 2010 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Commerce, Edith Cowan University.

Andrew Drayton

Andrew Drayton is Rio Tinto’s General Manager - Procurement for Western Australia. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, serving as an officer for 15 years in the Australian Regular Army in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. Since leaving the defence forces, he has worked in line management and consulting roles with companies including Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Kellogg Brown and Root, and Rio Tinto, operating in Sydney, London, Budapest and Perth.  He has a Bachelor of Science (with Honours) and a Masters of Strategic Studies. 

Duncan Ord 

Duncan Ord is the Assistant Deputy Director General, Operations in the Department of Indigenous Affairs and has been a senior public servant for the past seven years. Before that, he spent 30 years in the arts and tertiary sectors including eight years at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, five years as a member of the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council, four years as General Manager of Black Swan Theatre Company and has been Chairman of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and Skadada dance circus.

Craig Yaxley

Craig Yaxley is a tax partner with KPMG since 1994 and has over 25 years corporate tax experience. He is a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. He is an Executive Councillor and Treasurer of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies Inc and was previously Treasurer of the Friends of the Ballet (WA). 

Alan Cransberg 

Alan Cransberg is the Managing Director of Alcoa of Australia and is responsible for Alcoa’s bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminium smelters in Australia. He is also a Vice President of Alcoa Inc. Between 2004 and 2008 Alan was President, Global Manufacturing for Alcoa’s Global Primary Products group based in New York. He also served as chair of Alcoa’s Employee Relations Council in the US.  Alan began his Alcoa career after graduating in 1980 from the University of Western Australia with an honours degree in Civil Engineering. 

Rob McKenzie

Rob is a lawyer practising in the corporate and commercial areas. He was a partner in one of Australia’s major national law firms for 22 years. Rob has acted on a number of Australia's most significant listed company reconstructions. Rob was appointed by the Federal government to the committees reviewing funding to non-government schools and Insolvency Practitioners and Controllers. He is a deputy chair of the Law Council of Australia Corporations Committee, a commissioner of the WA Football Commission and a director of Mundo Minerals Ltd.

Kate O'Hara

Kate O'Hara is the General Manager, Marketing & Public Relations for property group Hawaiian Pty Ltd. Her marketing experience covers many sectors including retail, tourism, construction, mining and finance. After starting with JMG Marketing, and then spending four years in Singapore, Kate returned to Perth to take up a senior role with The Shorter Group. After several years as State Manager for The Capital Group and following the creation of her own consultancy, Kate now oversees Hawaiian's communications strategy across all aspects of the company's business. She is also a Committee member of The 500 Club.

Vicki Robinson 

Vicki Robinson is Legal Counsel with Wesfarmers Limited. From 2007 to 2009 she was the General Manager of Energy Generation Pty Ltd, owned by Wesfarmers Limited, prior to going on maternity leave. From 2003 to 2007 she was Legal Counsel with Wesfarmers Limited and Solicitor then Senior Associate with Clayton Utz from 1998 to 2003. She has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from UWA. 

Prof. Alan Robson AM

Prof. Alan Robson has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2004 and currently is the Hackett Professor of Agriculture. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science. He was awarded the Australian Medal of Agriculture Science, is a Member of the Order of Australia and was honored as Western Australian Citizen of the Year - Professions.   Professor Robson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee and Chair Group of Eight Universities.