List of Macquarie University people

This is a list of Macquarie University people.

Academia and science

Name	Macquarie University qualifications or faculty role	Notability	Notes
Janine Deakin	BSc (Honours), PhD in Biology	Australian geneticist and a professor at the University of Canberra	[1]

Business

Name	Macquarie University qualifications or faculty role	Notability	Notes
Rodney Adler		Australian businessman and former HIH director	[2]
Matt Barrie	MAppFin	Australian businessman	[2]
Peter Bush	BA	Australian businessman, Chairman of Pacific Brands and a director of Insurance Australia Group, former CEO of McDonald's Australia and former Chair of Nine Entertainment	[2]
Greg Coffey	BEcon	Australian hedge fund manager	[2]
David Leckie		Australian businessman and former CEO of Seven West Media	[2]
Catherine Livingstone	BA (Hons)	Australian businesswoman and President of the Business Council of Australia, the Chairwoman of Telstra and a Director of Macquarie Group and Worley	[2]
David Murray	MBA	Australian businessman, former CEO of the Commonwealth Bank and Chairman of the Future Fund Board of Guardians	[2]
Napoleon Perdis		Australian makeup artist and businessman	[2]
Stephen Ting	BEcon	Hong Kong businessman and CEO of Next Media	[2]

Government and politics

Australia

• Peter Andren, Australian politician, former Member for Calare in the Australian House of Representatives
• Kerry Bartlett, Australian politician, former Member for Macquarie in the Australian House of Representatives
• Meredith Burgmann, Australian politician, former President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• Sam Dastyari, Australian politician, former Senator representing New South Wales ^[3]
• Peter Debnam, Australian politician, former NSW Leader of the Opposition and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse
• Victor Dominello, Australian politician, Minister in the O'Farrell, Baird, Berejiklian and Perrottet ministries
• Trish Doyle, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the electorate of Blue Mountains
• Harry Edwards, Australian politician and economist
• John Faulkner, Australian politician, former Senator representing New South Wales ^[3]
• John Hewson AM , Australian politician and former leader of the Liberal Party of Australia ^[4]
• Stephen Jones, Australian politician, Minister in the Albanese government ^[3]
• Mike Kelly AM , Australian politician, Minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments
• David Leyonhjelm, Australian politician, former Senator representing New South Wales ^[3]
• Jann McFarlane, Australian politician, former Member for Stirling in the Australian House of Representatives
• Sally McManus, Australian union leader, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions
• Tania Mihailuk, Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• Rev. Fred Nile, Australian politician, former member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• Rob Oakeshott, Australian politician, former Member for Lyne in the Australian House of Representatives
• Jamie Parker, Australian politician, former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Balmain
• Tanya Plibersek, Australian politician, Minister in the Rudd, Gillard and Albanese governments ^[3]
• Steven Pringle, former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• Eric Roozendaal, Australian politician, Minister in the Iemma, Rees, and Keneally ministries
• Janelle Saffin, Australian politician, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and former Member for Page in the Australian House of Representatives
• Carl Scully, Australian politician, Minister in the Carr government
• Helen Sham-Ho OAM , Australian politician, former Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• Lisa Singh, Australian politician, former Senator representing Tasmania ^[3]
• Jim Soorley, Australian politician, former Lord Mayor of Brisbane ^[2]
• Karin Sowada, Australian politician, former Senator representing New South Wales ^[2]
• Rob Stokes, Australian politician, Minister in the O'Farrell, Baird, Berejiklian and Perrottet ministries

International

Name	Macquarie University qualifications or faculty role	Notability	Notes
Maliina Abelsen	MPol, AppSocRes	Greenlandic politician, Finance minister of Greenland	[2]
Patricia Holmes		Australian diplomat, former Australian Ambassador to Argentina	[2]
Martin Indyk		American academic and former diplomat, United States Ambassador to Israel
Freddie Pitcher		Nauruan politician, former President of Nauru
David Stuart		Australian diplomat, former Australian Ambassador to Austria	[2]
Harini Amarasuriya	MA in Applied and Development Anthropology	Sri Lankan politician, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Other

• Peter Anderson, Australian former police minister and former Director of the Centre for Policing ^[2]
• John Avery, Australian Chief Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force ^[2]
• Alison Broinowski, Australian academic, journalist, writer and former Australian public servant ^[5]
• John Connor, Australian chief executive of Climate Institute of Australia ^[2]
• Kathryn Greiner, Australian politician, alderman of the City of Sydney ^[2]
• Frank Howarth, Australian public servant; former Director of the Australian Museum ^[2]
• Greg Lindsay, Australian founder and executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies ^[2]
• Judy Mundey, Australian feminist and activist ^[2]
• Cameron Murphy AM , Australian civil libertarian ^[2]
• Christine Nixon, Australian former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police and Chair, Monash College and Deputy Chancellor, Monash University ^[2]
• Kathryn Paterson, Australian New Zealand public servant ^[2]
• Andrew Scipione, Australian Chief Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force ^[2]
• Patricia Scott, Australian public servant ^[2]
• Jeannette Young, Australian medical doctor and Chief Health Officer of Queensland

Arts

Name	Macquarie University qualifications or faculty role	Notability	Notes
Rosemary Blight		Australian film producer	[2]
Murray Cook		Australian musician, founding member of The Wiggles	[2]
Nevill Drury	MA (Hons)	Australian writer	[2]
Anthony Field		Australian musician, founding member of The Wiggles	[2]
Adam Hills		Australian comedian	[2]
Linda Klarfeld		Czech Australian sculptor	[2]
Chris Lilley	BA	Australian comedian	[2]
Jennifer Maiden		Australian poet	[2]
Greg Page		Australian musician, founding member of The Wiggles	[2]

• Thea Astley AO , Australian writer, four time Miles Franklin Award winner ^[6]
• Boey Kim Cheng, Singapore-born Australian poet ^[7]
• Timothy Hawkes OAM , Australian educator and writer, headmaster of The King's School, Parramatta ^[2]
• Paul Kraus, Australian writer ^[2]
• Jeni Mawter, Australian writer ^[2]
• Liane Moriarty, Australian writer
• Şahînê Bekirê Soreklî, Kurdish writer ^[2]
• Kimberley Starr, Australian writer ^[2]
• Les Wicks, Australian poet ^[2]

Media

Name	Macquarie University qualifications or faculty role	Notability	Notes
Rachael Carpani		Australian film actress, television actress	[2]
Sophie Falkiner		Australian television presenter	[2]
Yalda Hakim		Australian television presenter and news presenter	[2]
Margaret Pomeranz		Australian film critic	[2]

• Jane Caro, Australian writer ^[2]
• Anja Coleby, Australian model, television actress, television producer ^[2]
• Miranda Devine, Australian journalist ^[2]
• Michael Duffy, Australian journalist, writer, radio presenter ^[2]
• Martin Flood, Australian quiz show contestant, top prize winner on Australia's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ^[2]
• Kate Forsyth, Australian writer and journalist ^[2]
• Hugh Mackay AO , Australian journalist, novelist, psychologist and sociologist ^[2]
• Robert Ovadia, Australian journalist and television presenter ^[2]
• Peter Overton, Australian journalist and television presenter ^[2]
• Hugh Riminton, Australian journalist and television presenter ^[2]
• Magdalena Roze, Australian meteorologist and television presenter ^[2]
• Shane Smith, Australian-Canadian film festival programmer and television producer ^[8]
• Keith Windschuttle, Australian historian and writer, editor of Quadrant ^[2]
• Irfan Yusuf, Australian social commentator and writer ^[9]

Law

• Lloyd Babb SC , Australian barrister and NSW Director of Public Prosecutions ^[2]
• Jayne Jagot, Australian judge, Judge of the Federal Court of Australia ^[2]
• Lindy Jenkins, Australian judge, Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia ^[2]
• Brian Preston SC , Australian judge, Chief Justice of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales ^[2]

Religion

• Paul Barnett, Australian Anglican bishop, historian and biblical scholar ^[2]
• Graham Joseph Hill, academic at the University of Divinity ^[10]
• Tony Nichols, Australian Anglican bishop ^[2]

Sport

• Grant Brits, Australian swimmer ^[2]
• Christine Jensen Burke, Australian-New Zealand mountain climber ^[2]
• Liz Ellis, Australian netball player, former captain of Australian netball team
• Rachael Gunn, Australian Olympian and academic
• Patrik Hefti, Liechtenstein association football player ^[2]
• Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
• Holly Lincoln-Smith, Australian water polo player ^[2]
• Joel Milburn, Australian athlete ^[2]
• Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer (attended) ^[2]
• Tom Trbojevic, rugby league player, currently playing for Manly Sea Eagles
• Melissa Wu, Australian diver

Administration

Chancellor

Order	Chancellor	Years	Notes
1	Sir Garfield Barwick AK , GCMG , QC	1967–1978	[4]
2	Percy Partridge AC	1978–1984	[4]
3	Michael Kirby AC , CMG	1984–1993	[11] [4]
4	Tim Besley AC	1994–2001	[4]
5	Maurice Newman AC	2002–2008	[12] [4] [13]
6	Michael Egan AO	2008–2019	[4]
7	Martin Parkinson AC , PSM	2019–present

Deputy Chancellor

Order	Name	Title	Years	Notes
1	John Lincoln AM	Deputy Chancellor	1976–2000	[4]
		Emeritus Deputy Chancellor	2000–2011

Vice-Chancellors

Order	Chancellor	Years	Notes
1	Alexander Mitchell	1965–1975
2	Edwin Webb	1976–1986
3	Dianne Yerbury AO	1987–2006	[4]
4	Steven Schwartz AM	2006–2012	[4]
5	S Bruce Dowton	2012–present	[14] [15]

Other faculty

Notable past and current faculty members include:

• Wally Abraham, Australian architect and town planner ^[16]
• Deidre Anderson, Australian sports psychologist and Deputy Vice-Chancellor ^[17]
• Joan Beck, Egyptian archaeology, Honorary Fellow of Macquarie University ^[18]
• David Christian, British-American historian
• Max Coltheart AM , Australian cognitive scientist and academic at Macquarie University ^[4]
• Raewyn Connell, Australian sociologist
• Stephen Crain, American-Australian linguist
• Paul Davies, British physicist, writer and broadcaster
• Patrick De Deckker (de), Australian paleontologist
• William Dumbrell, Australian biblical scholar
• Tim Flannery, Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist
• Jacqueline Jarrett Goodnow, Australian cognitive psychologist ^[19]
• Jenny Hammond, Australian linguist
• Anita Heiss, Australian writer, presenter and commentator
• Ann Henderson-Sellers, Australian climatologist
• Ian Hogbin, British-born Australian anthropologist ^[20]
• Bryan Horrigan, Australian legal academic
• Geoffrey Hull, Australian linguist
• Sohail Inayatullah, Pakistani-Australian futurologist
• Naguib Kanawati, Egyptian-Australian Egyptologist
• Daniel Kane, Australian linguist
• Konrad Kwiet, German Australian historian
• Marion Maddox, Australian writer, academic and political commentator
• Richard Makinson, Australian physicist
• Gabriele Marranci, Italian anthropologist
• John Mathews, Australian competitive dynamics and global strategist
• Christian Matthiessen, Swedish linguist ^[21]
• Pat Michie, Australian neuroscientist/psychologist and academic at Newcastle University
• B. K. Misra, neurosurgeon ^[22]
• Michael Morgan AO , Australian neurosurgeon ^[4]
• José Enrique Moyal, Israeli-Australian mathematician
• Alanna Nobbs, Australian historian and writer
• Marlene Norst, Austrian Australian linguist
• Boyo Ockinga, Australian Egyptologist, epigrapher, and philologist
• Suzanne O'Reilly, Australian geologist
• Brian Orr, Australian physicist
• Pam Peters, Australian linguist
• Josef Pieprzyk, Polish-Australian cryptologist
• Ingrid Piller, Australian linguist
• Jim Piper AM , New Zealand-Australian physicist ^[4]
• Andrew Pitman, British atmospheric scientist
• Arthur William Pryor, Australian physicist
• Murry Salby, American atmospheric scientist
• Leonie Sandercock, Canadian Australian urban theorist
• Patricia Margaret Selkirk, Australian biologist
• David Skellern AO , Australian electronic engineer and computer scientist ^[4]
• Christina Slade, Australian academic and vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University
• Ross Street, Australian mathematician and Fellow of the Australian Mathematical Society ^[23]
• Keith Suter, Australian social scientist
• Esther Szekeres, Hungarian–Australian mathematician
• David Throsby AO , Australian economist ^[4]
• Andrew Tink AM , Australian former politician, writer and legal academic ^{[24] [4]}
• Alfred van der Poorten, Dutch Australian mathematician and Fellow of the Australian Mathematical Society ^[23]
• John Veevers, Australian geologist
• Neil Weste, Australian inventor and engineer
• Clive Williams, British Australian political scientist

References

1. RSB, Director; [e-mail]. "Janine Deakin". biology.anu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
2. "Graduate Register". Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015.
3. "Parliamentary Handbook" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia.
4. "It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours". Australian Government.
5. "University Governance - Biographies of Council Members". University of Adelaide.
6. "Thea Astley". AustLit.
7. "Roving poet Boey Kim Cheng returns to his Singapore roots". The Straits Times. 20 January 2013.
8. Travis Johnson, "Shane Smith: Bringing Hot Docs Down Under". Film Ink.
9. Yusuf, Irfan (20 November 2008). Irfan Yusuf on Imams as Expert Witnesses (Speech). Conference '08. Melbourne, Victoria: University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011.
10. "Graham Joseph Hill | Staff directory". staff.divinity.edu.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
11. High Court Bibliography Archived 2006-09-18 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 22 January 2010.
12. "Mr Maurice Newman AC (Chairman)". ABC Board Members. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
13. "Thinker at the helm". The Australian. 15 December 2006.
14. "Vice-chancellor". Macquarie University.
15. "Our alumni - Our people". Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney.
16. Don Gazzard (4 November 2006). "The planning force for Macquarie University". The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Ltd. p. 50.
17. Rowbotham, Jill (8 September 2011). "Dee's new Macquarie gig". The Australian. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
19. "Vale Emeritus Professor Jacqueline Goodnow (1924-2014)". Macquarie University. 27 June 2014.
20. "Herbert Ian Priestley Hogbin (1904–1989)". Biography - Herbert Ian Priestley Hogbin. The Australian Dictionary of Biography.
21. "Biography". The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
22. "Basant Kumar Misra, President NSI 2008" (PDF). www.neurosocietyindia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2020.
23. "Aust MS Fellows". The Australian Mathematical Society.
24. "Macquarie Law School: Honorary Associates: Andrew Tink". Faculty of Arts. Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015.