New Industry Advisory Board and Professor Appointments
The UTS Business School is pleased to announce new appointments and changes to its Industry Advisory Board and Industry Professors to further align to its vision as a socially committed business school focused on developing and sharing knowledge for an innovative, sustainable and prosperous economy in a fairer world.
The UTS Business Industry Advisory Board compromises of a cross-section of industry leaders with a diverse sets of expertise and skills to support the Dean, Professor Carl Rhodes, and his team to lead education and research that enables business and organisations contribute to the public good.
Complementing the Industry Advisory Board, the UTS Business School is excited to welcome two new highly esteemed Industry Professors who have joined the Business School: John Lydon and Stan Grant.
New Industry Advisory Board Co-Chairs
The UTS Business School Industry Advisory will have two co-chairs, Don Koch and Lyn Lewis-Smith, commencing March 2022.
Don Koch
Don Koch is senior financial sector leader with global expertise in creating value through focus on shareholder and customer outcomes.
Don is a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board for BNK Banking Corporation and an Independent Non-Executive Director at Cache (Investment Management Pty Ltd) is the Governor of the Research Foundation at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
Don has served on the UTS Business School Industry Advisory Board since 2019 and was awarded the UTS Alumni Award (Business) in 2021.
Don has a Master of Business Administration from UTS.
Lyn Lewis-Smith
As the Chief Executive Officer of Business Events Sydney, Lyn Lewis-Smith is one of Australia’s most respected and influential figures in the Tourism industry, passionately advocating for Australian business, scientific and cultural achievements on the world stage.
Lyn is also a Non-Executive Director at the Women’s Resilience Centre, a Non-Executive Director for the Committee for Sydney and a Non-Executive-Director at the Association of Australia Convention Bureau.
Lyn has served on the UTS Business School Industry Advisory Board since 2019 and was appointed an Adjunct Professor in 2020.
New Industry Advisory Board appointments
The UTS Business School is pleased to have five new Industry Advisory Board each bringing unique business and leadership acumen and connections.
Ajay Bhatia
Ajay Bhatia is the CEO of Mobile.de, part of the Adevinta group.
Prior to this appointment in August 2022, Ajay was the Managing Director of Carsales Australia for over two years and other senior roles.
Ajay has just under two decades of executive leadership experience In Australia and Asia with over 15 years of P/L management in pure digital & classifieds businesses. During this time he has held several commercial & technical leadership positions managing all aspects of digital businesses ranging from GM Commercial, Media Sales, Dealer Sales, Digital Marketing, Product Director, CIO to Managing Director. Ajay currently manages a large P/L and has public company responsibilities such as conducting regular investor briefings and results roadshows.
Ajay has been a Non-Executive Director with several companies and has served on boards ranging from Public, Private to Not for profit.
Ajay's academic experience includes lecturing university students and he holds the honorary position of Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School.
Ajay is an Alumni of the Harvard Business School having completed the Advanced Management Program. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Master's in Management from the same university.
Ajay was named Australian CIO of the year in 2015.
Ajay is a results & people focussed leader who has a keen interest in business leadership, strong product & Tech background and believes in value creation through digital & customer excellence.
Nina Blackwell
Nina is a veteran of social change in all its forms, with a belief in and passion for human rights.
Nina is currently Executive Director of Firelight - a multi-million dollar fund that supports catalytic community-based organizations that are working with their own communities to build smart, sustainable, and potentially scalable solutions to the challenges faced by children and youth in eastern and southern Africa.
Nina has a Bachelor of Laws (with second class Honours) from UTS.
Jason Collins
Jason is the Chief Executive Officer for the European Australian Business Council - one of Australia’s most effective corporate forums in Australia enabling business leaders to engage in high-level dialogue on economic and public policy issues with Australian and European political leaders, senior officials, diplomats and business delegations.
Jason is also the Deputy Chair for The Australian Youth Trust, Non-Executive Director at BE Sydney, and a Director at Matrix Corporate Marketing.
Paul Howes
Paul Howes is the National Managing Partner – Enterprise at KPMG Australia.
Prior to his commencement at KPMG in 2014, Paul was the National Secretary for The Australian Workers’ Union for over six years.
Paul is a Non-Executive Director at Beyond Blue and was the Commissioner for the National Covid-19 Commission Advisory Board in 2020 and 2021.
Ash Walker
Ash Walker is the Strategic Advisor for the La Perouse Land Aboriginal Land Council.
Ash has previously worked as a Consultant for Boston Consulting Group, Lawyer at Gilbert+Tobin and a Paralegal at Westpac and King & Wood Mallesons.
Ash has a Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW and an MBA from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Jenny West
Jenny is a Director for the Balmoral Consulting Group following a stellar career of international and domestic leadership across multiple industries.
Jenny is the NSW Governor for the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham Australia) and was the Deputy Secretary for Trade and Investment for Global NSW and the Head of Trade and Investment / General Manager for Digital Innovation and Client Services at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
Jenny has a Master of Business (International Marketing) from UTS.
Celebrating departing Industry Advisory Board members
The UTS Business School acknowledges and celebrates the departing Industry Advisory Board members:
- Scott Wharton as Chair (Scott has now joined the UTS Vice Chancellor’s Industry Advisory Board)
- Jenny Abood
- Christopher Chong
- Sharon Matusik
- Louise McElvogue
- Emlyn Scott
- James Walker
The UTS Business School sincerely thanks each departing Industry Advisory Board member for their significant and generous leadership, advice and service.
New UTS Industry Professors – John Lydon and Stan Grant
The UTS Business School is delighted to announce the appointment of two new highly esteemed Industry Professors who will bring their unique expertise to the aspirations and people of the School.
John Lydon
John has extensive experience working with CEOs, Boards and executive teams of leading companies and institutions to help them understand, embrace, capture and sustain the potential for their organisations. His work includes senior executive counselling, defining purpose, vision and strategy, and building capability, culture and courage to transform, disrupt and grow.
After starting his career at Citibank in London, John spent last 25 years at McKinsey working across Europe, USA, Americas and Asia as well as Australia. He has held leadership roles including founding McKinsey Implementation globally and then leading the Australia and NZ Practice. Following his departure from McKinsey, John is pursuing his purpose in helping business drive Australia’s energy transition, and create value for all stakeholders: society and the environment as well as shareholders.
John was a member of McKinsey’s global Senior Partners’ committee, has worked with several Business Council of Australia committees, and the founding group of Male Champions of Change. He is also Chair of Generation Australia, an innovative Not For Profit focusing on creating sustainable jobs in Australia.
Stan Grant
Stan is a major award winning journalist anchoring major programs in Australia and internationally.
Stan has reported from more than 60 countries covering the major events of the last two decades: war in Iraq and Afghanistan, international terrorism, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, the Pakistan earthquake, 2005 tsunami, Japan quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, the end of apartheid in South Africa and release of Nelson Mandela, the Northern Ireland troubles and ceasefire, the death of princess Diana, the handover of Hong Kong, a decade covering the rise of china and inside the closed world of North Korea
From these, Stan has been awarded 3x Walkley award, 2x Peabody award , Alfred I DuPont award, 4x Asia tv awards, an Australian TV Logie award, GQ Magazine agenda setter of the year, International Indigenous trailblazer award, 2x Australian Academy of Cinema Television Award, Australian Screen Producers Award, Australian Heritage Literature Award, Association of International Sports Journalists award.
Stan is an acclaimed author of four books and researcher on questions of identity, belonging, nationhood, geo-politics, political philosophy, and race studies.
For more information on the UTS Business School Industry Advisory Board and Industry Professors