UniSA Alumni
Nikki AdamoNikki Adamo is Country Business Manager, NESTLE JENNY CRAIG UK,
a global brand, based in Croydon, Surrey, UK.
Nikki began her career in the fashion industry before undertaking tertiary study, graduating in 1998 with a Bachelor of Management from the University of South Australia.
Nikki started her fast moving consumer goods career with Dairy Vale in South Australia as an Assistant Brand Manager. After 6 months she was successful in obtaining a role with the Australian Dairy Corporation (now known as Dairy Australia) in Melbourne and moved over as an Assistant Brand Manager. Within 2.5 years worked her way up to Marketing Manager.
In 2004 she joined NESTLE Australia as Marketing Manager of their Dairy business in Melbourne, later becoming Marketing Manager Europe based in Paris for 2 years, and then for 3 years was Global Market Manager looking after Western Europe, Oceania and China for the dairy business in NESTLE Head office in Switzerland.
Nikki then moved to NESTLE UK & Ireland as Head of Marketing of NESTLE Professional Foodservices.
In June 2011 Nikki was promoted to Country Business Manager (Managing Director) of NESTLE JENNY CRAIG UK, which is a start-up business within the UK. She now manages and leads a cross functional team covering Finance, Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing and a Call Centre.
Dr Mark
AhnMark J. Ahn, Ph.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of RXi Pharmaceutical Corporation, a wholly-owned biotechnology subsidiary of Galena Biopharma (NASDAQ: GALE) focused on discovering, developing and commercialising innovative therapies based on its proprietary, next-generation RNAi platform.
Dr Ahn was previously founder, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hana Biosciences, Inc (NASDAQ: HNAB), a South San Francisco, CA-based biopharmaceutical company which acquires, develops, and commercialises innovative products to advance cancer care.
Prior to Hana, Dr. Ahn served as Vice President, Hematology and corporate officer at Genentech, Inc. where he was responsible for commercial and clinical development of the Hematology franchise which surpassed $1 billion in revenues, achieved the #1 oncology therapeutic position in the US, and was recognized as the #1 sales and marketing team in the biopharmaceutical industry in by Product Management Today. Prior to Genentech, Dr. Ahn held a series of positions of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Amgen, Inc and FMC Corporation in strategy, general management, sales & marketing, business development, and finance. He also served as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Dr. Ahn also serves on the Board of Directors of Transmolecular, Inc., RXi Pharmaceuticals, and Access Pharmaceuticals. He also serves on the Board of Governors for Chaminade University.
Dr. Ahn received a BA in History and MBA from Chaminade University. He was a graduate fellow in Economics at Essex University, and has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of South Australia. Dr. Ahn is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
Allen BolaffiAllen Bolaffi is the founding President of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce Inc. This organisation has been responsible for the substantial increase in trade between Australia and Israel over the last 15 years. Apart from the trade activity, it runs the very best business networking events in Australia, featuring the highest business leaders as their keynote speakers.
Outside this activity he is Managing Partner of UHY Haines Norton, Chartered Accountants. His two areas of professional activity are his public and private company directorships, and his role in advising local government in the area of governance, audit economy and efficiency. His numerous appointments in audit committees in the public sector bears testimony to his knowledge and skills in this area.
Allen is an author in the area of governance and audit matters and has prepared a number of papers and delivered lectures in this area around Australia.
He serves on the boards of directors of Drake Supermarkets Pty Ltd, Macfield Leasing Corporation Limited, John Shearer Holdings Limited (ASX code JHR) , Arrowcrest Group Pty Ltd and was the founding Chairman of the Adelaide Jewish Museum.
All of these achievements would not have been possible without the great grounding that was offered at University of South Australia and its predecessor institutions.
See Allen Bollaffi for more information.
Dr
Beng CheahDr Beng Cheah is currently the Director of Corporate Services at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) in Singapore. I2R is primarily funded by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and partly by the industry. It has some 350 research scientists and engineers performing R&D in information, communications and media (ICM) technologies.
Beng was previously the Director for the Datacomm & Network Systems business at a SingTel subsidiary. His team achieved significant revenue growth, won and implemented many advanced, large-scale telecommunications and networking projects in Singapore. Earlier, Beng worked for GEC Plessey Telecommunications and Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, in software engineering, project management and technical consultancy roles for projects in New Zealand, United Kingdom and Indonesia.
Beng received BE (1st Class Honours) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Auckland, NZ. He gained an MBA from California State University, East Bay and completed the Programme for Global Leadership at the Harvard Business School. He had recently completed his DBA (UniSA) where he studied the diffusion of innovations; in particular, the adoption of mobile phones across ASEAN countries.
Dr Kia Ngee ChewDr Chew is the Patron of UniSA;s Singapore Alumni Chapter and one of our first offshore Ph.D graduates.
Dr Chew holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Malaya, a Master of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of South Australia.
Dr Chew has been a Practising Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) since 1978. He was a Council Member of the then Singapore Society of Accountants (now ICPAS) in 1974. He served on the Professional Development Committee of ICPAS for many years and is currently the Chairman of the Auditing & Assurance Standards Committee of ICPAS.
Dr Chew is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, a Fellow of CPA Australia and a member of the Singapore Computer Society. Dr Chew has been in professional practice for 35 years and has been a partner for 26 years with the legacy firm of Coopers & Lybrand and now PricewaterhouseCoopers. He recently retired as Deputy Chairman, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Singapore).
Elizabeth ClareElizabeth Clare's career burgeoned after taking an extended break to raise her family. She joined the Masonic Homes in 1993 where she soon demonstrated a flair for marketing when she undertook the vital role of promoting Darwins first retirement village. Her outstanding success ensured her rapid promotion to the position of General Manager Property, where she was responsible for the management of a $70m property portfolio and the construction of retirement housing, serviced apartments and aged care facilities for the Masonic Homes.
In 2005 Elizabeth accepted the role of Executive Director of the Mary Potter Foundation where she was responsible for raising over $1m annually to support the Mary Potter Hospice at Calvary Hospital North Adelaide. She is currently a Director at Clare Communication.
Elizabeth holds postgraduate qualifications in communications, public relations and management from UniSA.
She has been actively involved in the disability sector, having chaired the Independent Living Centre and was a member of the Transitional Advisory Group advising the Minister for Disability. She is currently an active board member of the Bedford Group where she chairs the Property Committee, as well as a board member for Unitingcare Wesley Bowden.
In 2003 Elizabeth was proud to be South Australian winner of the Community and Government Award for the Telstra business Women of the Year Awards which recognized her achievements and success as a business woman.
Ms
Judy CurranJudy Curran has now been appointed to the role of the Chief Executive of CanDo Group Charities, providing disability, allied health and education services to sensory impaired children through CanDo4Kids (Townsend House) and education, equipment and allied health services to adults through Deaf CanDo (Deaf SA), as well as leading further development of the Townsend Park and extensive related lifestyle retirement developments.
Previously Judy has worked for over 15 years in the not-for-profit sector, and has held the position of Chief Executive with scosa (the Spastic Centres of South Australia Inc.) since 2003. Prior to working with scosa, Curran held a range of senior management roles - including Deputy Executive Director - with the Australian Red Cross South Australia Division.
Qualified with Master of Business Administration, a Graduate Diploma in Management and a Graduate Certificate in Management, Curran is also a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute. In 2007 she won the South Australian Telstra Business Women of the Year award in the Community Services category.
Shivani
Gupta Shivanis personal experience of moving from India to a remote area in South Australia at a young age was the first major change in her life. With a determination to overcome obstacles and the motivation to succeed, Shivani rose to each challenge: studying in a non-traditional area of engineering, moving into a career in a male-dominated sector and overcoming barriers faced by women in the workplace by moving into management positions at a young age while completing her MBA. At the age of 27, she became a senior manager with BHP Billiton, the largest resource company in the world.
After a life changing experience in Nepal five years ago, she decided to leave her secure position to create her dream and passion of challenging people to grow and established her own company.
She has worked with over 100 National companies in all states of Australia including 6 of the Top 10 (Forbes Nov 2006). She also speaks internationally.
Shivani has been the recipient of many awards including the Telstra Young Business Woman; Achiever of the Year for Enterprising Women Awards; Finalist in the Hunter Leadership Awards and in 2005, was named an honorary member of the Golden Key Society for her work with Universities that includes honorary members such like Bill Clinton and Ian Thorpe. Shivani has and continues to contribute to several boards. Shivani has also written articles for national publications, including the Law Review and The Australian. She is also a regular radio presenter and is currently writing two books.
Hui Wing Mau (JP) is an alumnus of the University of South Australia, graduating with a Masters of Business Administration in 2003. He is currently Chairman and Executive Director of Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. and non-Executive Chairman of Shanghai Shimao Co. Ltd. He was also recently awarded The CPA Australia Alumni of the Year 2009 at the inaugural Australia China Alumni Awards in Beijing.
Mr Hui founded the Shimao Group in the 1980's, and focused on the development of high-end residential and business properties and luxury hotels. Today the Shimao Group controls two listed companies - Shimao Property (Hong Kong) and Shanghai Shimao (Shanghai) and is now the leader in China's real estate industry.
Mr Hui sits on the National Committee of the Eleventh Chinese People's Political Conservative Conference and founded the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, acting as its president. In addition Mr. Hui sits on Chinese government committees and Chinese business representative bodies. Further to this in 2007 he spoke at the World Peace Congress.
As a generous donor to charities, education and social welfare establishments, Mr Hui has won many awards including the most recent Shanghai Magnolia Award of Honour. Through a trust fund under the Shimao Group, he regularly provides scholarships to worthy students for studies.
Jane KittelIn October 2010, Jane Kittel took up the position of Bank SA Managing Director; the first woman to do so in BankSA's 162 year history.
Jane has extensive experience in financial services and banking with a 15 year history of working with Westpac. This includes her role as General Manager of Westpac's Pacific Banking operations for the last four years where she oversaw 1200 employees across the Pacific region that supported over 200,00 customers. The business had deposits totalling $1.9 billion and assets of more than $2.5 billion.
During her time at Westpac, Jane held a number of positions, including the General Manager Sourcing, Head of Corporate Services and Executive Manager to the Group Executive of IT and Operations. Prior to Westpac, Jane was with AMP from 1986 to 1995 in a variety of roles.
Jane grew up in Port Augusta so her appointment will see her return to her home state, where she completed her Bachelor of Management (Employee Relations) at UniSA.
"I grew up in South Australia and I'm absolutely delighted to have the opportunity and responsibility of running such an icon in the State".
Mr Pack LingPack Ling is the Chief Information Officer of General Electric (GE) China and has held this position since July 2006. In this role he directs the IT strategies of the company and leads the IT function of over 200 professionals and 800 engineers in the Greater China region.
Pack joined GE in July 1996 as a management trainee in the Information Management Leadership Program. During his time as a trainee he led 5 office relocation projects and established the Asia-wide shared email server. Upon his graduation from the training program, Pack accepted a role as an Asia IT Project Leader in GE Capital where he was awarded for his contribution to business acquisition projects in Asia.
In Jan 2000, he was promoted to lead dual regional roles - Asia IMLP Program Manager and Asia End-User Computing Leader. After 2 years, he grew the trainee program from 40 to over 100 members while he outsourced the whole Asia EUC operation to external vendors.
Pack received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Hong Kong in 1996, M.A. in Chinese Politics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2005 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Australia in 2010.
Mr
(Louis) Luqiang Qiao
Qiao Luqiang is an alumnus of the University of South Australia, graduating with an MBA in 2000 and a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management (with the assistance of an Australia China Council grant) in 1999. He is currently Deputy Director of General Office (former Director of International Arts Cooperation) at China's National Centre for the performing Arts in Beijing. and has recently won the 2009 Australian China Alumni Award for Culture and Arts.
In his role as Deputy Director, Qiao Luqiang has made extensive contributions to cultural exchanges between Australia and China through organising and facilitating many important exchange projects. In 2008 Qiao was instrumental in arranging well-known Aboriginal artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's performance at NCP, as well as facilitating China's National Ballet tour to Australia with Raise the Red Lantern directed by Zhang Yimou.
Qiao is also active in alumni affairs as Director of China's Western Retired Scholars Association (WRSA), and Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of WRSA Australian and New Zealand Chapter.
Rob McKay
June RoacheJune Roache is Chief Executive of SA Lotteries and Vice Chairman of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association.
SA Lotteries charter is to promote and conduct lotteries for the benefit of all South Australians. SA Lotteries returns approximately 95 cents of every $1 in revenue to the community of South Australia, primarily via prizes to players and profits to hospitals.
Prior to joining SA Lotteries, June was Chief of Staff within the office of a South Australian Cabinet Minister and a senior executive with the South Australian TAB.
She has a Bachelor of Accounting from the University of SA and a Graduate Certificate in Management from Monash University (Victoria, Australia).
June has served on several boards over the years and is currently a Board Member of Business SA and the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation. She is also a Justice of the Peace in South Australia and a Member of the Adelaide Rotary Club.
Philip
SimsPhilip is currently Chief Executive Officer of South Australian based Robert Menz Manufacturing Pty Ltd. The fourth generation family company is well known for its specialty brands including Menz Confectionary (Fruchocs, Crown Mints), Robern Fruit Products and Medlow Confectionary. Philip has transformed the business from a predominantly bulk/contract manufacturer and supplier to a brand marketer. Since his involvement in the business from the early 1990s the company's turnover has grown four fold, due to the exceptional quality and purity of the natural citrus, berry and tropical gel products.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Business with a major in marketing from the University of South Australia in 1988, Philip joined the family company for some time, but eventually decided to diversify and broaden his experience externally by joining the Schwarzkopf organisation. Over a period of four years he managed the sales force and key accounts in New South Wales in his role as Sales Manager. Since graduating, he has continually updated his qualifications, by completing an Export/Import Certificate from the Australian Export Institute in 1994 and obtaining a Graduate Certificate in Management in 2001.
Philip has a keen interest in league football and Sturt football Club.
Dr Mary K C
TanDr Mary Tan is a Civil Engineer by profession. She holds a BEng in Civil Engineering at the National University of Singapore, a Masters in Business & Technology at the University of New South Wales, a PhD in Psychology at Wyoming and a PhD in Business Management at South Australia.
Dr Mary has been actively involved in the land transport planning, design and development since Singapore's first Mass Rapid Transit system. She is currently heading the International Alliances & Development Section at the LTA Academy, Land Transport Authority, Singapore. The Academy is a one-stop focal point for governments, organisations and professionals around the world to tap Singapore's know-how and exchange best practices in land transport management and development.
Campbell ThompsonCampbell is the Managing Director of The Wine Republic, a boutique wine importer based in Beijing. Campbell started the business two years ago with the Rathbone Family, when they recognised the growing market for quality wine in China.
Having grown up in Naracoorte, South Australia, Campbell's passion for wine began at a very young age. After completing his Bachelor of Business at UniSA in 1993, Campbell's first job was with the State Government where he carried out research on understanding the Chinese economy and what that meant for South Australia.
After falling in love with China, Campbell has spent the last 10 years working for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and then ASC Fine Wines in various marketing positions but it was his passion for wine that has led to the creation of The Wine Republic. The business is growing from strength to strength with 70 per cent of their business importing to high-end restaurants and hotels including JW Marriott, Salt restaurant and the Hyatt.
When away from the wine business, Campbell can be found playing bass and keyboards for various bands in and around Beijing.
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Mr Luo (Roy) XiangMr Luo Xiang completed his Masters of Business Administration in 2005 and since that time has worked in a variety of countries.
Currently Mr Luo is the National Program Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) - Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in China.
His role is to facilitate the industrial development in China through improving nationwide industrial clusters in a broad array of industries such as pharmaceuticals, clean tech and renewable energy, IT, outsourcing and logistics.
In China, ITPO partners directly with renowned private equity funds, global enterprises and international institutions to establish industrial funds and identify investment and M&A opportunities for local and foreign entities.
Prior to this Mr Luo worked in New York, being responsible for promoting the investment cooperation of well-known international private equity funds, venture capital, energy environmental protection projects together with the Chinese government, enterprises and financial institutions.
Between 2005 and 2007, he worked as China Project Coordinator for IEDC in Washington D.C., being responsible for conducting the project implementation of IEDC, over 5,000 member agencies, Chinese government, enterprises and investment institutions in the field of high technology industrialization, construction of regional industrial clusters program and Chinese outbound investment.
Previously, Mr Luo was responsible for leading several specialized working teams in regional development of the Yellow River Delta, SMEs financing solution, reconstructing state-owned enterprises with foreign investment.
Dr Leo YeungDr Leo Yeung received his first degree in Fashion design, got his Royal Chartered Designer in UK on 1988. He gained an MA on studying "Push and Pull factors on China retail economic". He has completed his PhD at the University of South Australia in 2006 where he studied the "Crossover co-branding".
Currently he is the General Manager of Shenzhen Galaxy Group, in this position he is responsible for developing management strategies, administration, marketing, construction, cost control and overall management of six shopping malls. Leo manages three malls in Shenzhen and is building another three in South China and the Nanjing region.
Leo previously held the position of Vice President of Rockbund, a joint venture project of US Rockefeller group and HK Sinolink, a public listed HK property developer. His role is to searching new property projects in China and heading the existing Shanghai Rockbund project from planning, marketing, leasing and operation.
Leo was previously the design manager for Esprit Asia, China before moving to Jeanswest and was responsible for developing 1400 stores in China. He has also worked as the General Manager of the ad:hoc project of Joyce Group; CEO of China motion telecom retail shops; and Retail Director of Cushman Wakefield, China.
