Announcement posted by Data61 30 Jan 2012
Media Release
30 January 2012
NICTA congratulates former CEO Dr David Skellern and current Research Evaluation Committee
member Professor Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan on their inclusion in the prestigious
Australia Day Honours lists.
Dr Skellern was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his distinguished service to
science and engineering as a leading researcher and for the design and development of worldleading
information technology. Dr Skellern also made an outstanding contribution to NICTA
during his five years as CEO and was tireless in his efforts to raise the profile and importance of
ICT to the Australian economy.
“The presence of Dr Skellern and Professor Srinivasan on the Australia Day Honours list is no
surprise – they are both outstanding individuals who have advanced their respective fields of
endeavour in important ways,” said NICTA CEO Hugh Durrant-Wyte. “In his time as CEO, from
2005 until the end of 2010, Dr Skellern built NICTA’s reputation and oversaw impressive research
and commercial breakthroughs. Professor Srinivasan, as a member of our Research and
Evaluation Committee, is helping to ensure that we are always striving to achieve nothing less
than excellence in all of our research.”
“I feel very honoured to be recognised with this high appointment,” said Dr Skellern. “I’ve been
lucky throughout my life to work with many talented and dedicated people. I actually can’t think of
anything I did on my own! So I thank all those amazing people and very much view the award as
recognizing what we achieved together. It is also a welcome and pleasing recognition of the
important role played by science, engineering and information technology in securing the future
prosperity of Australia.”
Professor Srinivasan, was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to
visual and sensory neuroscience through the Queensland Brain Institute, as an academic,
researcher and mentor, and to the national and international scientific community.
Professor of Visual and Sensory Neuroscience and Electrical Engineering at the Queensland
Brain Institute, Srinivasan said he was thrilled to be appointed a Member of the Order of
Australia. “I was both surprised and delighted to hear of my appointment! It is always a thrill to be
recognised by one’s peers and the Order of Australia is particularly special due to its national
significance,” he said.
The Order of Australia is the pre-eminent way Australians recognise the achievements and
service of their fellow citizens. The Order operates on the principles of independence and
freedom from political patronage. Nominations to the General Division of the Order of Australia
come directly from the community. In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order
of Australia confer the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service. There are
two divisions of the Order of Australia: the Civil or General Division and the Military Division.