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 Corporate Bodies

Related Research Datasets

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

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

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