Cosson new Secretary for Veterans’ Affairs
Elizabeth Cosson (pictured) has been appointed Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) following the decision of current Secretary Simon Lewis to resign with effect 18 May.
Mr Lewis was appointed Secretary in 2013.
Ms Cosson has been the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at DVA since May 2016 after a career in the Australian Army which spanned more than three decades and saw her make history as the first woman promoted to the rank of Major General.
Her appointment at DVA achieves gender parity at the most senior level of the APS, with nine women and nine men now serving as Commonwealth Secretaries.
National Gallery Director named
Nick Mitzevich (pictured) has been appointed Director of the National Gallery of Australia for five years beginning on 2 July.
Mr Mitzevich is currently the Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia and has served as Director of the University of Queensland Art Museum and the former Newcastle Region Art Gallery.
He replaces Gerard Vaughan who has held the position since 2014.
Panels to assess universities’ engagement
The Australian Research Council has appointed five Assessment Panel Chairs for this year’s inaugural round of the Engagement and Impact Assessment process — the first of its kind in Australia.
The panel chairs are Richard Dunford (University of NSW – pictured) Social Sciences Panel; Gerard Goggin (University of Sydney) Creative Arts and Humanities Panel; John Grundy (Monash University) Science and Technology Panel; Terry Nolan (University of Melbourne) Health and Life Sciences Panel; and Maggie Walter (University of Tasmania) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Panel
The Chairs will oversee panels, ensuring they are best placed to recognise and reward the engagement by universities with industry and other end-users.
