Bronwyn Fox joins CSIRO agency as new chief scientist

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra), Australia’s national science agency, has appointed Professor Bronwyn Fox as chief scientist, close to 30 years after she began her career with CSIRO as a research assistant. Professor Fox, CSIRO’s fourth female chief scientist, joins the agency from Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia), where she is deputy vice chancellor of research and enterprise. 

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr. Larry Marshall says Professor Fox brings great depth of scientific experience to the role. “Bronwyn exemplifies the CSIRO way — driven to deliver, brilliant but humble, leading by listening and a generous collaborator,” Dr. Marshall says. “She has a long history of bringing together researchers from across multiple scientific domains and institutions, leveraging digital science and helping industry to translate brilliant ideas into real-world solutions.”

Dr. Marshall notes that her sustained commitment to supporting the growth of the manufacturing industry in Australia strongly supports its purpose to deliver solutions from science that drive Australia’s economic recovery and resilience.

As a materials and engineering scientist, Professor Fox was the founding director of Swinburne’s Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, with a mission to support the transition of Australia’s manufacturing sector to Industry 4.0. Fox also established the Industry 4.0 Testlab for Composite Additive Manufacturing. Before joining Swinburne, she was research director for Carbon Nexus at Deakin University.

Professor Fox says she had worked with CSIRO scientists for close to 30 years. “It is wonderful to return to CSIRO as chief scientist after starting as a 22-year-old research assistant, and to be able to champion science research and capability, working with industry and fostering STEM careers,” Prof. Fox says. “The depth of scientific research at CSIRO and its committed people are a unique and special national treasure and I look forward to taking up the role.”

Professor Fox is chair of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (Victorian Division), a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).