Elizabeth Anne Alexander (born 16 April 1943), a leading Australian accountant and company director, was the 21st

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 ...

of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

between 2011 and 2016.

Biography

Alexander is a Fellow of the Society of

Certified Practising Accountant Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

s, a Fellow of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the institute) was the professional accounting body representing Chartered Accountants in Australia before it merged with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants to become Charter ...

, and 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 ...

where she was a past national president. Alexander is a past national president of

CPA Australia CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia founded in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members working in 150 countries and regions around the world. CPA Australia currently has 1 ...

. She served as a non-executive director of

CSL Limited CSL Limited is an Australian multinational specialty biotechnology company that researches, develops, manufactures, and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions. CSL's product areas include blood plasma derivative ...

for twenty years, including five as chairman; is a non-executive director of

Dexus Dexus is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) managing an Australian property portfolio valued at $44.3 billion. Dexus invests in Australia and directly owns $18.4 billion of office, industrial and healthcare properties. The dir ...

and

Medibank Private Medibank Private Limited, better known as simply Medibank, is one of the largest Australian private health insurance providers, covering 3.7 million people in 2021. Medibank initially started as an Australian Government not-for-profit insurer i ...

; and has previously served on the boards of Boral,

Amcor Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products. The ...

. The first woman in Australia to be appointed as a partner of one of the big eight accounting firms, Alexander specialised in the area of risk management and corporate governance issues, and was responsible for the establishment of these practices within Australia at

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

. Alexander also served on government regulatory bodies including the

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recomm ...

, the

Australian Takeovers Panel The Australian Takeovers Panel, a statutory authority of the Australian Government, is the primary Australian forum for resolving disputes about a takeover bid during the bid period itself. The panel is a peer review body, made up of part-time ...

, and the Australian Financial Reporting Council. In 2011 Alexander was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne and succeeded

Alex Chernov Alex Chernov, (born 12 May 1938) is an Australian lawyer, judge and barrister who served as the 28th Governor of Victoria, from 2011 to 2015. Chernov also served as Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association, from 1986 to 1987, President ...

, who was appointed as

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

. Alexander was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1990 "In recognition of services to accountancy". She was appointed an Officer in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to higher education administration, to accounting and corporate governance, and as a role model."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Elizabeth 1943 births Living people Australian accountants Chancellors of the University of Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal University of Melbourne women Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors