Person
O'Kane, Mary Josephine (1954 - )
AC FTSE
- Born
- 1954
Mount Morgan, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Computer scientist and Vice-Chancellor
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
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
Rosanne Walker
Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 10 January 2023