Leigh Clifford is Chairman of Crestone Wealth Management, a Director of Bechtel Group Inc in the USA and Chairman of Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd, a Senior Adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, a member of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, Chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation and Chairman of the University of Melbourne’s philanthropic campaign.

Leigh was previously Chairman of Qantas from 2007 to 2018. Prior to that he was Chief Executive and Director of Rio Tinto, and retired in 2007 after 37 years with the company.

He is a qualified mining engineer, having graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and a Master of Engineering Science.

Leigh is married to Sue with 2 adult children.

Professor Su Baker is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Community and Cultural Partnerships, and also the Director of Centre of Visual Arts (CoVA) at the University of Melbourne. Su was the Director of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) for 7 years with over 25 years’ experience in teaching, research and senior management. She undertook graduate study at Sydney College of the Arts in 1984, and in 2004 was awarded a Doctorate of Creative Arts, at Curtin University of Technology. Su has held academic positions since 1989, including senior management roles at SCA, University of Sydney and VCA, University of Melbourne.

Peta Credlin is a political analyst who hosts her successful prime time programme CREDLIN on Sky News each weeknight, a national columnist with News Corp Sunday newspapers and The Australian, and a political contributor on the Nine radio network across 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR each week. A trained lawyer, Peta is also involved with the University of Melbourne’s School of Government, a long-standing supporter of the “Pathways to Politics” programme which aims to support women to run for parliament and was recently appointed to the board of the new Robert Menzies Institute, at the University of Melbourne.

For 16 years, Peta was a senior adviser to a number of Howard Government ministers across a range of portfolios including defence, communications and the arts, immigration and foreign affairs. Between 2009 and 2015, she was Chief of Staff to the Hon Tony Abbott AC during his time as Leader of the Opposition and later as Prime Minister of Australia. She is one of the longest serving chiefs of staff to a political leader.

Peta Credlin was born and raised in small town of Wycheproof, in the Victorian Mallee. She completed her secondary education at Sacred Heart College in Geelong before studying law at the University of Melbourne with a concentration in constitutional law, politics and history. She was a resident of Newman College for three years and university level rower.

Peta is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in Victoria and has a further post-graduate qualification in law from the Australian National University. In 2015, she received the Australian Women’s Leadership Award for the ACT and in December 2016, was named a joint winner of Harper’s Bazaar magazine’s ‘Woman of the Year”. She is a joint Walkley Award winner (2016), joint TV Week Logie Award winner (2017) for her role in Sky News Australia’s 2016 Federal Election coverage and a finalist in the Kennedy Media Awards for Excellence in Journalism (2021).

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2021, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for ‘distinguished service to parliament and politics, to policy development, and to the executive function of government.’

Geoffrey Hone holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Melbourne. His degree was conferred by Sir Robert Menzies (then Chancellor of the University.)

He is admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria and other Australian jurisdictions.

He was a partner of the law firm, Ashurst (formerly Blake Dawson), for 37 years, and subsequently a senior consultant at that firm. He has acted as a director of, or adviser to, numerous public and private companies. His other current appointments include Chairman of the Institute of Public Affairs and Chairman of The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Charitable Trust.

David Kemp is a political scientist and former member of Parliament. Professor of Politics at Monash University (1979-1990) and a Minister in the Howard Cabinet, with responsibility, inter alia, for Education and Environment, he has Law and Arts degrees from the University of Melbourne and a Ph.D. (with distinction) from Yale University. In 1975-76 he was a senior adviser to Malcolm Fraser, and in 1981 was Director of the Prime Minister’s Office. David was Member of the Commonwealth Parliament for Goldstein from 1990-2004, and Vice-President of the Executive Council 2001-04. He was President of the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) 2007-2011, Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Melbourne. He was a member of Council of Melbourne University 2014-15, a foundation Board member of the Grattan Institute for Public Policy (2008-18), Chair of the Museum of Australian Democracy (2016-19), Chair of the Australian Heritage Council (2016-21) and Chairman of Council of Scotch College, Melbourne (2012-20). He is the author of a history of Australian liberalism, published by Melbourne University Publishing.

Tim Lynch is Professor of American Politics at the University of Melbourne.

In 2022-23, Tim was the Milward L. Simpson Visiting Fulbright Professor at the University of Wyoming, in America’s reddest state. His latest book, In the Shadow of the Cold War: American Foreign Policy from George Bush Sr. to Donald Trump (Cambridge, 2020), has been called ‘a cogent, graceful, provocative account’ of its subject.

His other books include Turf War: the Clinton Administration and Northern Ireland (2004) and US Foreign Policy and Democracy Promotion (2013). His co-authored book, After Bush: the Case for Continuity in American Foreign Policy (2008), won the Richard Neustadt Book Prize and became a best-selling international security text.

He is editor of the two-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History (2013). His many op-eds have had over 1 million hits. He is a regular contributor for The Australian newspaper.

At Melbourne, Tim led the team that created the Master of Marketing Communications – the fastest growing degree in the Faculty’s history. He was co-creator and convenor of the sell-out 10 Great Books Melbourne Masterclass.

Twice a Fulbright scholar, Tim holds a PhD in political science from Boston College, USA. Born in Warwickshire and raised in Leicestershire, Tim is a citizen of Australia and Great Britain. He lives in rural Victoria.

Chief Executive Officer

Georgina Downer is a seasoned not-for-profit CEO and public-policy leader based in Melbourne, Australia. With a robust background in law and diplomacy, she has served as an Australian diplomat in Canberra and Tokyo. Georgina’s career highlights include her role as the inaugural Director of Asialink Diplomacy at the University of Melbourne and founding Tenjin Consulting, a geopolitical risk advisory firm. Since April 2021, she has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Menzies Institute, where she established Australia’s sixth prime ministerial library and a museum honoring Sir Robert Menzies. Georgina holds a Master of Public International Law from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws and Commerce from the University of Melbourne. Her extensive board experience includes roles with the Menzies Research Centre and The Torch. Georgina is also an active member of several professional associations and a published author on topics related to Australian identity and liberal democracy.

Historian and Research Manager

Dr Zachary Gorman is a professional historian who has specialised in the history of Australian liberalism. He has been working as a researcher and academic since 2013, including several years at the University of Wollongong where he received his PhD. He has authored three books, Sir Joseph Carruthers: Founder of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Summoning Magna Carta: Freedom’s Symbol Over a Millennium, and most recently a monograph on Joseph Cook. He also edited and annotated the 250th anniversary edition of Captain Cook, R.N.: 150 Years After and has been published in a wide-range of peer reviewed academic journals.

Museums Assistant

Victoria is a passionate curator who graduated from the University of Melbourne with a bachelor’s degree in Art History and Ancient Studies. She has been involved in the auditing of the digital archives for the Australian Archaeological Society of Athens in collaboration with The University of Sydney, alongside coordinating events for student societies and spearheading new educational resources for exchange students as the Inbound-Co-Ordinator at the Melbourne University Student Exchange Society. Victoria was previously a volunteer at the Robert Menzies Institute collaborating with staff to curate new exhibits, overseeing the running of the exhibit and researching the Robert Menzies Collection.

Events Manager

Christina is a former consultant who has been involved with coordinating a range of events for organisations. She has had experience working in government and the not-for-profit sector. She holds a Bachelor of Information Systems (Hons) and a Masters of Information Systems from The University of Melbourne and has an interest in Australian political history.

Education Manager

Matt is a passionate History educator who currently teaches at Xavier College, with experience in middle and senior years at Geelong Grammar School and Ballarat Clarendon College. He completed his Bachelor of Arts at The Australian National University and Master of Teaching at Monash University. He serves as a Board Director on the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria and loves Australian political history! He works as the Education Manager at the Robert Menzies Institute on a part-time basis.

Communications Manager

Denise is the Communications Manager at the Robert Menzies Institute. With a background in public and corporate affairs from APAC, Europe and the UK, she is passionate about sharing the stories of the past through an intersectional lens and advocating for an improved understanding of how the current political environment came to be. Denise has an MA in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA (Hons) in International Relations from SOAS, University of London. She also serves as the communications adviser to the Board of the Finland Australia Chamber of Commerce.

Visiting Fellow

Dr. William A. Stoltz is a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Menzies Institute where his research focuses on the history of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Dr Stoltz is the Senior Adviser for Public Policy at the National Security College. He is responsible for mobilising the College’s research and resident expertise to influence and inform current public policy debates. Dr. Stoltz’s own research explores options for Australia to shape and influence international security, as well as Australia’s policy responses to a breadth of national security challenges. He joined the NSC after working across Australia’s defence, intelligence, and law enforcement communities, including strategic intelligence and advisory roles within the Department of Defence, the Australian Federal Police, the Royal Australian Air Force (Reserve), and the National Intelligence Community. He holds a PhD and Advanced Masters of National Security Policy from the Australian National University as well as a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.

Professorial Fellow:

Professor Greg Melleuish is the Robert Menzies’s Institute’s first Professorial Fellow. He has joined the Institute to conduct a research project contextualising the full series of over 100 radio broadcasts which make up the ‘Forgotten People’ series, in conjunction with RMI Academic Coordinator Dr Zachary Gorman. Greg is a Professor in School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong, where his teaching interests range from political theory, Australian politics, ancient history and world history. Greg is an expert on Australian liberalism and conservatism, and has long been respected as one of the leading figures in this field. Greg is the co-author of the book The Forgotten Menzies (Melbourne University Press, 2021), which is the latest of many books he has produced throughout his career. Greg has published widely in the area of Australian political ideas and intellectual history. This includes his books Cultural Liberalism in Australia, (Cambridge University Press, 1995, reprinted 2009), The Power of Ideas: Essays on Australian History and Politics, (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2009) and Despotic State or Free Individual (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), as well as a number of articles. He co-wrote the entry on Australian Political Thought (with Geoff Stokes) for the Oxford Companion to Australian Politics (2007). His fellowship represents something of a reunion with the University of Melbourne, where he formerly taught European history.

James Waghorne is a Senior Research Fellow and University Historian, working on the history of higher education in the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education. His work reaches across the history of university governance, university disciplines, the heritage of university campuses, and the changing influence of campus life and culture on the student experience.

Additionally he takes in the historical connections between universities and the state, industry and community groups.

He is co-editor (with Ross L. Jones and Marcia Langton) of the truth-telling Dhoombak Goobgoowana: a history of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne. His history of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, Australian Universities (with Gwilym Croucher), was published by UNSW Press in September 2020, and his history of the Melbourne University Union, By Students, For Students was published by Australian Scholarly in 2022. With Kate Darian-Smith he edited a collection on the interwar university professions, The First World War, the Universities and the Professions in Australia, 1914–1936 (MUP, 2019).

He has also published histories of lobby groups and professional and community organisations, including Improving Justice: A History of the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA, 2014), Liberty: A History of Civil Liberties in Australia, with Stuart Macintyre (UNSW Press 2011), and The Family Club: A Short History (Carlton: The Family Club Cooperative, 2018) a history of Australia’s first university childcare centre. James is an investigator on the ‘Expert Nation’ and ‘Universities and Post-war Recovery’ research projects, tracing the careers of university graduates who served in the First and Second World Wars, funded by the Australian Research Council. Among his other work has been the production of two Witness Seminars on the University’s recent past, on the 1959–1960 Immigration Reform Group and the HIV/AIDS crisis in Australia in the 1980s.

Associate Professor Gwilym Croucher is Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. A former Fulbright Scholar, his research focuses on different aspects of the political economy of higher education.

He has published widely on higher education policy and management and has led large publicly funded research projects. He is a regular media commentator on higher education in Australia.

Dr Damien Freeman is a Fellow of the Robert Menzies Institute where he is responsible for the Institute’s  Menzies Early Career Network. He was educated at the University of Sydney (MA, LLB(Hons), MPhil) and the University of Cambridge (PhD).

He is a writer, lawyer and philosopher, whose books include “Abbott’s Right: the conservative tradition from Menzies to Abbott” and “The End of Settlement: why the 2023 referendum failed”.

He is the general editor of the Kapunda Press, and has edited numerous collections of essays including “Faith’s Place: democracy in a religious world” and “Nonsense on Stilts: rescuing human rights in Australia”. He has also published a range of occasional papers with the Centre for Independent Studies and the PM Glynn Institute, including “Radical Conservatism: tradition as a guide for managing change”, “Amen: a history of prayers in parliament” and “So Help Me God: a history of oaths of office”.

In addition to his work at the Robert Menzies Institute, he is a Research Fellow at the Kathleen Burrow Research Institute, an Honorary Fellow of Australian Catholic University, and a member of the advisory board of the John Howard Prime Ministerial Library at UNSW.