UTS honours a foremost business thought leader

UTS today conferred an honorary doctorate on Catherine Livingstone AO in recognition of her outstanding contribution to business, especially in the areas of innovation and corporate governance.

Ms Livingstone is President of Australia's peak business body, chairman of one of its largest companies, an adviser to governments, a role model for corporate leaders and an advocate for innovation, UTS Vice-Chancellor Attila Brungs said.

"Catherine is one of our foremost business thought leaders, with long experience in both the corporate and research communities, and understands the sophisticated interplay between these sectors and government," Professor Brungs said. "She is respected for both her achievements and her ideas.

"As the new President of the Business Council of Australia, she is playing a particularly important role at this time in marshalling support for the logical but often overlooked argument that Australia must base its long term prosperity on much more than its natural resources."

One of her first major acts as BCA President was to release the landmark research paper Building Australia's Comparative Advantages, which called for a radical rethink of how Australia understands its economy and plans for wealth creation.

"Catherine is an innovator who was among the first of Australia's senior leaders to recognise the role of design thinking in shaping new industries and business models," UTS Business School Dean Professor Roy Green said.

"She is recognised as a champion of the strategic repositioning of Australian competitive advantage around knowledge and ingenuity and a great promoter of Australian ideas and talent."

Ms Livingstone was elected President of the Business Council of Australia in March this year and has been chairman of Telstra since 2009. From 2001 to 2006 she was Chairman of the national scientific body CSIRO.

She is a member of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council and has worked on many government reviews over the past 10 years, including the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper and the National Innovation System Review.

She is also patron of the Australian Design Integration Network (ADIN), which was established by CSIRO and UTS to develop and promote design led innovation.

One of the pioneers for women in corporate leadership roles in Australia, she became Chief Executive of bionic ear manufacturer Cochlear in 1994, taking it to a stock exchange listing a year later and leading the company until 2000.

She has also been Chairman of the Australian Business Foundation and President of Chief Executive Women, where she remains a member. She has served on the boards of Macquarie Group, Goodman Fielder and Rural Press and currently sits on the board of WorleyParsons, as well as Telstra.

In 2008 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the development of Australian science, technology and innovation policies to the business sector through leadership and management roles and as a contributor to professional organisations.

Ms Livingstone received the Doctor of Business degree at a graduation ceremony for the UTS Business School this morning, at which she also delivered the occasional address.

UTS is also awarding honorary doctorates this month to global midwifery research leader Professor Jane Sandall, Australian-Chinese businessman and philanthropist Dr Chau Chak Wing, for whom UTS's Frank Gehry-designed Business School building has been named, and NSW State Librarian and former University Librarian at UTS Dr Alex Byrne.