Penelope Seidler, AM

Principal, Harry Seidler and Associates
BArch (Syd), BBus (UTS), FRAIA

Penelope Seidler, AM, addressed graduates from the Faculty of Business at Greenhalgh Theatre, Kuring-gai campus, Tuesday 21 April 2009, 2.30pm.

Penelope Seidler is Principal of Harry Seidler and Associates Architects, a position that she held since 1966. She is the widow of the renowned Australian architect Harry Seidler, and an alumnus of the Faculty of Business, UTS.

Penelope combines the aesthetic and practical skills of an architect with the financial skills of an accountant. Her particular interests are international and Australian contemporary and ethnographic art. She is directly responsible for commissioning artists for projects for Harry Seidler and Associates Architects, and has an intense concern for the built and natural environments.

She has had involvement in many organisations at board level including The Australiana Fund; the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, and Sydney College of the Arts. She is a former councillor of the National Gallery of Australia, and is currently a member of the Museum of Modern Art New York's International Council, a position that she has held since 1973.

Penelope, in conjunction with Harry, has won several awards including the Wilkinson Award for her own house in Killara — now listed on the New South Wales Heritage Register; and the Interior Architecture Award for a penthouse in Milson's Point.

In 2001 Penelope was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in business leadership; and in 2008 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the preservation of cultural heritage, particularly through the Australiana Fund; to visual arts organisations; and to architecture.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.