Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Professor Simon Biggs
Vice Chancellor and President of James Cook University
Professor Simon Biggs commenced his appointment as Vice Chancellor and President of James Cook University Australia in February 2022. He is responsible for ensuring clear and effective leadership and management of the University across all operating sites, including campuses in Cairns, Townsville and Singapore.
Professor Biggs’ former appointments include: Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Western Australia, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology at the University of Queensland and Royal Academy of Engineering/National Nuclear Laboratory Chair in Particle Science and Engineering at the University of Leeds in the UK. His first academic appointment was at the University of Newcastle (Australia).
Educated at the University of Bristol in the UK, Professor Biggs holds a PhD in Colloid Science. He developed his research through post-doctoral positions at the Institute Charles Sadron in Strasbourg, France and the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Professor Biggs’ main research interests are in the field of colloid and interface engineering. He has a strong interest in the measurement, control, and manipulation of inter-particle forces to allow more efficient process engineering of particulate systems. Professor Biggs was the chief investigator on numerous research projects and has authored more than 270 refereed publications as well as being named on over 20 patents.
Professor Biggs received the 2005 SCI/RSC/IMMM Beilby Medal awarded for “a substantial contribution towards fundamental research of practical significance”. His work has led to a substantial number of research partnerships with a wide cross-section of industrial partners covering diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, personal care, foods, minerals processing and water treatment. Whilst at Leeds, his group developed a strong partnership with the UK nuclear industry working on legacy waste clean-up problems.
Professor Biggs is a Council Member of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and serves on the Board of Directors of Advance Cairns, Townsville Enterprise Limited and Smart Precinct NQ. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011 and in 2016, as a Fellow of the Australian Academy for Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Professor Chris Rudd OBE
Deputy Vice Chancellor and Head of Campus, Singapore
Chris Rudd is the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Head of Campus, Singapore for James Cook University. Chris is responsible to the JCUS board for the strategic leadership of the Singapore campus of James Cook University and is a member of the JCU Executive Board.
Prior to joining to James Cook University, Chris was Provost and CEO of University of Nottingham, Ningbo China (2015-19) where he led a campus of 8,000 students and 900 staff, delivering UK degree programmes in China’s first sino-foreign University and building a series of new research institutes in China to connect with local and international industry. His previous UK roles include Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement (2007-15), leading on business engagement and philanthropic fundraising and Dean of Nottingham’s Engineering Faculty (2003-7). Chris was a board director of the China-Britain Business Council from 2011-17.
In addition to his academic career Chris served as sea-going engineer with P&O Steam Navigation Company (1977-81) and a research engineer at GKN Technology Ltd (1985-86). He has collaborated widely with industry in Europe, USA and Asia and has held guest professorships in Canada, USA and China. He is currently a guest professor at Jilin University and at the National Level International Science and Technology Cooperation base in Advanced Composite Materials hosted by AVIC in Beijing. He received the Ningbo Government’s highest honour for foreigners – the Camellia Award in 2017 and Zhejiang Province West Lake Award in 2018 and a Changbaishan (长白山友谊奖) Scholar in 2013. He was awarded the 48 Group Club Icebreaker Laureate prize for services to Sino-UK relations and led Nottingham Confucius Institute to Model status, awarded by Vice-Premier LIU Yandong in 2015. He was admitted to the Order of the British Empire in the UK 2018 New Year Honours list for services to Higher Education and UK-China relations.
Chris is an active researcher and holds grants and contracts with several international organisations for his research in engineering materials and lightweight structures. His team have contributed to the introduction of new materials and processes in the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries. He has successfully supervised more than 60 PhD projects and has published > 175 journal articles with around 6500 citations and an H index of 43.
Outside his professional activities Chris enjoys outdoor activities, traditional music and dance and continues to study Mandarin at intermediate level.
Ms Patricia Brand
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Services and Resources
Ms Tricia Brand is the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Services and Resources Division at James Cook University and a member of the University Executive and the Vice Chancellor’s Advisory Committee.
Tricia is a Director of a number of companies, including: Director, Tropical Queensland Centre of Oral Health Pty Ltd; Director, CPB Pty Ltd ATF The CPB Trust; Director, JCU Health Pty Ltd; Director, James Cook Holdings Pte Ltd (Singapore); Director, James Cook University Pte Ltd (Singapore); Chair, Finance Committee – a sub-committee of James Cook University Pte Ltd (Singapore); Director, Finance Committee, a sub-committee of the Townsville Hospital and Health Service Board; Director, Foundation for Australian Literary Studies and Trustee, Roderick Trust.
Tricia has over 30 years’ experience in the higher education sector, the majority of which has been operating at senior executive and management levels. She attained her Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1994. She holds postgraduate qualifications of CPA and is a Fellow of CPA Australia, Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Management.
Tricia is a member of DVC Corporate Group for Universities Australia, the sector’s peak body and heads a Division that is responsible for the University’s Financial and Business Services, Planning Performance and Analytics, Estate, Human Resources, Technology Solutions, TropIQ Developments, retail and commercial developments, Work Health and Safety and Student Accommodation.
Tricia is a champion of sustainability at JCU and is engaged in actively promoting environmental sustainability and involving staff and students in various programs and initiatives that support the University’s tropical sustainability agenda.
Professor Stephen Naylor
Chair of Academic Board of James Cook University
Professor Stephen Naylor has been an active participant in education, learning & teaching and the creative arts for 40 years. He has worked in high schools, TAFE and for the last 25 years worked in the University sector. He has assumed roles of leadership in each sector, driving curriculum, quality assurance, policy development, staff management, professional development, assessment strategies and research agendas. Currently he is Chair of the Academic Board of James Cook University (JCU) and serves on the Panel of Experts for TEQSA Australia.
His creative arts background drove his professional practice for more than 20 years and has seen him as an active arts reviewer for a variety of Australian journals. More recently his research has focused upon design and the understanding of a sense of place within the tropical region. He has recently published a new Routledge monograph entitled The Venice Biennale and the Asia-Pacific in the Global Art World.
With four years’ experience in Asia, where he was the Dean for JCU’s Singapore campus, he had a major role in providing commentary and advice at numerous forums throughout the region on assessment, student centric learning and teaching approaches and on quality assurance and academic governance in higher education. He has worked on a number of Boards and on the Review Board for TEQSA Panel of Experts.
Whilst undertaking roles in senior management he supervisors HDR candidates and is a PhD examiner for post graduate candidates in the broad areas of the creative arts at the intersection between business and teaching & learning. As a Board member he provides expertise on governance, contemporary Art in a global context and a strong understanding of both community art and art training in tertiary education.
Dr Cam Charlton
Independent Member
Cam Charlton is Managing Director of Kleinhardt Pty Ltd, a corporate advisory firm, specialising in strategic and business planning for business and industry, and in regional economic development.
His current JCU appointments include: Member of the Board of Directors of James Cook University Singapore Pte Ltd and Member of JCU Singapore Finance and Risk Management Committee.
His former JCU appointments include: Deputy Chancellor; Chairman of Audit Risk and Compliance Committee; Chairman JCU Enterprises Pty Ltd; Member of Chancellors Committee; Chairman James Cook Holdings Pte Ltd; Chairman Futures Committee; Team Leader in acquisition of minority shareholder equity in James Cook University Singapore; Chairman of Faculty of Law Business and Creative Arts Review Committee (2009) (inaugural faculty review); Member of Appeals Panel Committee; Member of Strategy Committee; Member of Finance Committee; Member Vice Chancellors Cairns Advisory Committee (mid 2000’s) and Chair Centre for East and South East Asian Studies (circa late 1990’s).
Cam is also a Director of the Cowboys Rugby League Club.
Cam has previously held positions as a Director of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, a Member of the Committee advising the Queensland Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games as regards the 2018 Commonwealth Games Legacy opportunities, Chairman of Advance Cairns, Chairman of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Chairman of the Cairns Regional Economic Development Corporation, Committee Member of Regional Development Australia Far North Queensland and Torres Strait, Director of Telecasters Australia Limited (the Channel 10 network in Northern New South Wales and Queensland), partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Chartered Accountants, Chairman of the International Business Committee of the Queensland Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and a Regional Councillor of that Chamber.
Cam has extensive commercial experience throughout Australia, South East Asia, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea and Russia.
Cam graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1977 and with a Bachelor of Laws in 1980. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an accredited consultant with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. Cam is a retired fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Management Consultants in Australia, and the Australian Institute of Management.