O'Kane, Mary Josephine (1954 - )

Summary

Mary Josephine O'Kane was a pioneer in research in automatic speech recognition and has been a senior participant in Australian research policy and higher education for many years. She was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Adelaide from 1994-1996, when she was appointed Vice-Chancellor. She was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Canberra 1989 - 1993. In previous years she spent some time at the Institute of Information Science at Turin University. She is a computer expert whose specialty is computer voice. In 2008 O'Kane was appointed Chief Scientist and Engineer for the New South Wales State Government.

Details

Chronology

1982

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Australian National University

1989 - 1993

Career position - Dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering, University of Canberra

1991 - 1993

Career position - Member, Engineering, Earth and Applied Sciences Panel, Australian Research Council

1992 - 1996

Career position - Member, Australia Prize Committee

1992 - 2001

Career position - Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Adelaide

1993 - 1996

Career position - Member, Australian Research Council

1994

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1994 - 1996

Career position - Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide

1994 - 1996

Career position - Chair, Research Grants Committee, Australian Research Council

1996 - 1997

Career position - Member, South Australia Museums Board

1996 - 2001

Career position - Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide

1997 - 1998

Career position - Member, Cooperative Research Centres Committee

1997 - 2002

Career position - Member, CSIRO Board

1998 - 2000

Career position - Member, Botanic Gardens Board of South Australia

2001 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor in Electrical Engineering, University of Adelaide

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society in computer engineering

2004 - 2010

Career position - Director and Executive Chairman, Mary O'Kane and Associates Pty Ltd

2006 - 2010

Career position - Chair, CRC for Spatial Information Board

2008 -

Career position - New South Wales Chief Scientist and Engineer

2008 - 2012

Career position - Member, New South Wales Innovation and Productivity Council

2008 - 2013

Career position - Member of Council, Charles Darwin University

2009 -

Career position - New South Wales Clean Coal Innovation Council

2010 - 2012

Career position - Chair, Australian Centre for Renewable Energy

2011 - 2012

Career position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

2011 - 2013

Career position - Chair, New South Wales Renewable Energy Taskforce

2011 - 2014

Career position - Member, Advisory Board, Defence Science and Technology Organisation

2012 -

Career position - Trustee, New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute

2013 -

Career position - Chair, Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies Board, University of Tasmania

2013 -

Career position - Member, Council, Queensland University of Technology

2013

Award - DSc (honoris causa), University of Wollongong

2014 -

Career position - Chair of the Board, CRC for Space Environment

2014

Award - Pearcey Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and inducted into the Hall of Fame, Pearcey Foundation

2016

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - for eminent service to science and engineering, as a contributor to national policy development and governance, to the promotion of technology research and future energy supply, to higher education, and as a role model to young scientists

2016

Award - Ada Lovelace Medal, University of New South Wales

2017 -

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales

2017

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

2020

Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal

2024 -

Career position - Independent Chair,of the Board, Australian Energy Market Operator

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Profiles, Australian women scientists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1999), 191 pp. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q22262375. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94960936. Details
• 'O'Kane, Mary (1954-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1304057. Details

See also

• Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Handbook 2001 (Victoria: Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2001), 271 pp. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'Appetite for Knowledge - Mary O'Kane' p.108. Details
• Georg, Dietrich, 'Australia's most influential engineers: Top 100 [2009]', Engineers Australia, 81 (6) (2009), 30-64, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.838744586377406. Details
• Kannegieter, Tim, 'Australia's top 100 most influential engineers [2015]', Engineers Australia: Civil Edition, 87 (5) (2015), 39-42, 44-69, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.964144482945092. 'Public service: O’Kane, Mary - NSW Government', p.66. Details