Catherine Mary Harris is an Australian company director. She has served as Chairperson of

Harris Farm Markets Harris Farm Markets is an Australian grocery chain with over 30 different locations in New South Wales & Queensland with the majority of stores existing within the Sydney metropolitan area, the Brisbane metropolitan area, and various regional a ...

since 1999.

Career

Harris graduated from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

with a Bachelor of Commerce. Following university Harris worked for both David Jones and

Grace Bros. Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were r ...

In 1971, Harris co-founded Harris Farm Markets with her husband, David. She has previously held roles as the

Deputy Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

UNSW 1999-2003; chief executive and Director of the Affirmative Action Agency; chief executive of Harris Communications (International Marketing Company); chair of Mary Rossi Travel Pty Ltd; and chair of the now closed St Margaret's Public and Private Hospital. Harris currently serves as a director of the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

UNSW Business School The UNSW Business School at the University of New South Wales is a business school located in Sydney, Australia. The school offers 42 programs, including 26 undergraduate and 26 specialist master's degrees, as well as six MBA and executive pro ...

, the

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), located on George Street in Sydney's The Rocks neighbourhood, is solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting, and collecting contemporary art, from across Australia and around the world. It is ...

, the Australia Japan Foundation and as a Trustee of the

Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust (popularly known as the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust or SCG Trust) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that operated the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, New So ...

. She has served as

Honorary Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

in Sydney since 2 June 2004. Harris is a governor of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

. In February 2012 she was appointed to

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

Honours and awards

In 2000 Harris was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) "for outstanding public service as Director of the Commonwealth's Affirmative Action Agency and her role in the acceptance of affirmative action by Australia's business community." She was awarded the Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001 "for service to Australian society in business leadership". In 2006 Harris was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "for service to community development through leadership roles in organisations related to education, health care, advancement of the status of women, the Catholic Church, the arts and sport, and to international relations between Australia and Asia, particularly support for Bhutanese people living in Australia." The

awarded Harris with an Honorary Doctorate of Business (Hon.D.Bus) in 2008; and she is a Fellow of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

(FAICD).

Personal life

Harris is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, is married to David whom she met while completing her undergraduate degree, and together they have five sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Catherine Living people Australian Rugby League Commissioners Australian chief executives Businesspeople from Sydney Australian women in business Officers of the Order of Australia Australian women diplomats Bhutanese diplomats Australia–Bhutan relations Recipients of the Public Service Medal (Australia) University of New South Wales alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors