AAUN Annual Forum 2016 - Speaker Biographies Opening Plenary Session 1: Australia Africa: Knowledge Partnerships Professor John HEARN Co-Chair of the Australia AfriCa Universities Network (AAUN) Board ExeCutive Director of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Professor John Hearn is Board Executive Director of the Worldwide Universities Network (www.wun.ac.uk); Chairman of the Australia Africa Universities Network (www.aaun.edu.au); and Professor of Physiology (Medical School) at the University of Sydney. Awarded his PhD from the Australian National University (ANU) he served for 6-7 years each in leading research, teaching and administrative positions at the Universities of Edinburgh, London UCL, Wisconsin, ANU and Sydney. Most recently he was Vice President (Research) at ANU 2000-4, and Vice President (Academic and International) at Sydney 2004-13. He teaches first year and advanced students in science and medicine. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has published 210 research papers and edited six books in reproduction and fertility, stem cell biology and biotechnology. A committed international citizen, he has worked globally in research capacity development, especially in China, India, Thailand, Kenya and Brazil. He lived and worked in Kenya and Uganda for ten years. He is an adviser to the Australian Government, British Council, Swedish STINT, World Health Organisation and OECD in Higher Education and Research. He was (to 2013) a Board member of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, and Chairman of the Sydney Confucius Institute. Professor Cheryl M. de la Rey Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Pretoria Prof Cheryl de la Rey has been the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria since November 2009. She is the current Vice-Chairperson of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). Professor De la Rey is a fellow of the Psychological Association of South Africa, a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and of the Academy of Science of South Africa. She serves on several national and international boards: Chairperson of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), Vice-Chairperson of the Talloires Network, the African co- Chairperson of the Australia-Africa Universities Network (AAUN) and Executive Board Member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). She has published widely in her discipline Psychology and on higher education policy matters. Mr Matthew Neuhaus Assistant SeCretary, AfriCa BranCh in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Mr Matthew Neuhaus commenced as Assistant Secretary, Africa Branch in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on 27 July 2015. Prior to this, he was the Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe from January 2011 to March 2015 (accredited also to DRC, Malawi and Zambia). Mr Neuhaus has served in several senior positions in DFAT in Canberra, including as the Head of the Pacific Engagement Taskforce and Head of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Policy Task Force in 2010. He was the Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London 2002-2008. His previous postings with DFAT include Kenya (1983-1985), Papua New Guinea (1988-1989), New York (1991-94) and Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria – accredited also to Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal and The Gambia (1997-2000). He was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Senior Adviser, International Division) from 2001-2002. Mr Neuhaus has a B.A. (Hons) LLB from the University of Sydney and a Master of Philosophy (International Relations) from the University of Cambridge. He also attended the Harvard University Kennedy School Leaders in Development Program in June 2006, and was a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University in 2015. H.E. Mr Adam MCCarthy Australia’s High Commissioner to South AfriCa Adam McCarthy is Australia’s High Commissioner to South Africa with non-resident accreditation to Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Until March 2015, he was Assistant Secretary, Africa Branch and was earlier head of the International Legal Branch. Prior to that Mr McCarthy served as Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Deputy Australian Governor to the Commonwealth from April 2009 until December 2012. During that time he served as the Australian Team Attaché at the London 2012 Paralympics. A senior career DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) officer, Mr McCarthy has previously served overseas as First Secretary (Political) at the Australian High Commission in Wellington (1996-99) and Counsellor (Trade Policy) at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC (2002-2006). In Canberra, Mr McCarthy has worked in a range of positions primarily in the multilateral, trade, legal and arms control fields, including from 2006-2009 as Assistant Secretary, International Legal Branch. After graduating from the University of Sydney with honours degrees in economics and law Mr McCarthy practiced as a solicitor before joining DFAT in 1993. He also holds Graduate Diplomas in Legal Practice (UT) and Foreign Affairs and Trade (Monash) and is admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Mr McCarthy is married to Nicky with two children, Ella and Benjamin. Professor Paul Johnson Vice-ChanCellor, The University of Western Australia Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia in 2012, Professor Paul Johnson served as Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University in Victoria for four years. Before moving to Australia, Professor Johnson served three years as Deputy Director of the London School of Economics. Professor Johnson received his doctorate from Oxford University in 1982. Professor Johnson has been an expert adviser on pension reform and the economics of demographic change to the World Bank, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, the British Government and the House of Lords. He has served on a number of professional councils, learned societies and professional bodies in the UK including the Economic and Social Research Council's Research Grants Board, the Council of the Economic History Society and the Governing Board of the Pensions Policy Institute. Professor Johnson is a director of Venues West, the Western Australian Sports Centre Trust, established by the State government to manage Western Australia’s major state-owned sporting facilities. He is also a member of the Council for the Christ Church Grammar School College; and a member of the Advisory Council of the Australian Research Council. He was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society in 1987 and to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2001. H.E. Mrs. MerCy Debrah-Karikari Ghana’s High Commissioner To Australia Mrs. Mercy Debrah-Karikari presented her credentials to Governor- General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) in August 2014. A career diplomat, Mrs. Debrah-Karikari joined the Ghana Foreign Ministry in 1987, and has served in various capacities in the Africa, Administration, Policy Planning and International Organizations and Conferences Bureaux of the Ministry, as well as Director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for the administration and management of the offices of the Minister and Deputy Minister. She worked at the Ghana Permanent Mission to the United Nations Offices in Geneva as Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative from 2007 to 2011, as Minister-Counsellor at the Ghana Embassy in Bonn and Berlin from 2000 to 2004, as Counsellor and Ghana’s delegate on the Second Committee of the United Nations in New York from 1995 to 1998 and as Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the Ghana Embassy in Luanda, Angola from 1994 to 1995. Mrs. Debrah-Karikari is also concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu. H.E. Mr Andrew Barnes Australia’s High Commissioner to Ghana Mr Barnes is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and is currently High Commissioner for Australia to Ghana and eight other countries in West Africa. He was acting Chargé d’Affaires, Accra (October to December 2015); and previously served overseas as Exchange Officer, Canadian Foreign Ministry (2007-2009); and as First Secretary, Stockholm (2000-2003). Other positions Mr Barnes has held in DFAT have included Director, Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Section (2013-2015); Director, Counter Terrorism Activities Section (2010-2012); Manager, EU Trade Unit (2005-2007); Environment Strategies Section (2003-2005); 6 month Short Term Mission as Deputy Director, WA Stat office (2003); North, Central and East Europe Section (1997-1999); Trade Finance Section (1992- 1994); and Advisor, Office of the Minister for Trade and Overseas Development (1990-1992). Mr Barnes also took leave without pay from DFAT and served as a World Food Program Field Officer in South Sudan, and Program Manager, Catholic Relief Services, Sudan Program (1995-1996). Mr Barnes holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University and has a Graduate Diploma from Stockholm University. H.E. Mr Raoul PatriCk Lewis Cavalot Mauritius’ High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand H.E. Mr Raoul Patrick Lewis Cavalot is the High Commissioner of Mauritius to Australia and New Zealand since December 2014. He was born in Mauritius and studied at College Du St Esprit. His earlier career was in private sector marketing and sales, especially in water engineering and technologies applied to water treatment, pumps and pools. He holds qualifications in engineering, management and marketing. He has engaged for many years in social and political reform to promote equity and justice. He served as a municipal counselor and deputy mayor, as well as being a member of the sports council. He was Chair of Health, Works and Sports committees. He is married and a proud father of a son and a grandfather of two grandchildren.