Our people

Chief Executive Officer

Professor Andrew Campbell FTSE FAICD is directly responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and was appointed CEO in 2016. As agency head, the CEO manages the administrative and financial affairs of ACIAR and its staff.

Professor Andrew Campbell has played influential roles in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management in Australia for over 30 years, including as the first National Landcare Facilitator and Chief Executive of Land & Water Australia. He represents Australia on the System Council of the CGIAR, is a Commissioner on the Commission for International Agricultural Research and is the outgoing Chair of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. Andrew is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University.  He has a Master of Science (Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, a Bachelor of Forest Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Forestry from Creswick. Andrew is still involved (from a distance) in his farm in western Victoria, where his family has been farming since the 1860s.

Chief Finance Officer

Ms Audrey Gormley is responsible for providing strategic financial advice to the organisation, in addition to managing human resources, business services (IT), procurement, legal, property and other corporate activity. 

Ms Audrey Gormley joined ACIAR in July 2017 and has over 30 years’ experience in all facets of finance and accounting both at strategic and operational levels, working in investment banking and insurance sectors before joining the Australian Government. Prior to joining ACIAR, Audrey was Chief Finance Officer at Food Standards Australia New Zealand for over 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Chief Scientist

Dr Daniel Walker oversees the strategic science focus of the ACIAR research portfolio and its impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation work. The Chief Scientist also provides leadership for Research Program Managers across nine research areas, and oversight of our relationship with the Australian innovation system.

Dr Daniel Walker joined ACIAR in November 2017 to take up the newly-created role of Chief Scientist. Prior to ACIAR, Daniel spent 23 years at CSIRO, where he was Research Director for Agriculture and Global Change with CSIRO Agriculture and Food and previously, Chief of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences. Daniel has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in agriculture, forestry and rural economy from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD from the University of Wales.

Acting General Manager, Country Partnerships

Professor Ann Fleming is responsible for leading ACIAR engagement with key research partners in Australia and overseas and with Australian Government stakeholders. She manages the ACIAR network of Country and Regional Offices and utilises the capacity of these Offices to manage stakeholder relationships and contribute to setting the strategic direction of the bilateral research program.

Previously, Ann was Research Program Manager for Fisheries for ACIAR. Ann came to ACIAR from Monash University, where she was a research development specialist for 2 years. Before that, Ann was Manager of Aquaculture in NT Fisheries for 5 years, and for the 10 years prior she was Assistant Leader and then Leader of the Abalone Aquaculture Program for the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). Ann has a PhD in Aquaculture from the University of Melbourne, a BSc (Hons) from Monash and a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management from Flinders University. She is currently undertaking a Masters of International Development at RMIT. 

General Manager, Outreach and Capacity Building

Ms Eleanor Dean has led the ACIAR Outreach and Capacity Building programs since 2017.

In this position, Eleanor has overseen a transformation of the Outreach program bringing a greater emphasis to reaching larger audiences through digital media channels.  The academic publishing program also ensures ACIAR research is captured and communicated broadly to partners.

Eleanor led the design of the Meryl Williams Fellowship, a leadership and management course for female agricultural researchers, and has driven a renewed and more active alumni engagement. Under her leadership the Capacity Building program now reaches many more researchers through increased rounds of the John Dillon Fellowship and online learning.

Stakeholder engagement is a key role for Eleanor, who leads government and ministerial liaison for ACIAR. She is also responsible for delivering a domestic stakeholder engagement strategy.

As co-chair of the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Committee, Eleanor champions a program of work to ensure gender equity and social inclusion in ACIAR research and capacity building.  She is also chair of the Executive Committee of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions.

Eleanor has a Bachelor of Communication with first class honours from the University of Canberra and extensive experience working in the Australia Government in communication roles across a number of agencies, including the environment and agriculture portfolios. Her previous position was as Manager, Safety Promotion Branch at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.