Adrian Lee (Panel Chairperson), Consultant
Adrian Lee started his career at UNSW in 1968. He arrived via a postdoctoral scholarship at the Rockefeller University (New York) as a lecturer (very young!) in microbiology. He was enthusiastic about teaching but with absolutely no training. The opportunity to participate in an intensive workshop in tertiary teaching at the Centre for Medical Education in Chicago convinced him of the importance of training in University teaching. For the next 15 years, he was active in the WHO Regional Teacher Training Centre based at UNSW, running numerous workshops on teacher training. Along the way, he was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1990 and the inaugural Australian Society for Microbiology Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989. He published a number of articles in education with a special emphasis on small group teaching. In 1990 he was appointed Professor of Medical Microbiology and served as Head of the School of Microbiology from 1990-1998. Throughout his career, Adrian Lee continued to research his chosen area of the bacteria that inhabit the gut. He was the leader of a large research team investigating the organism Helicobacter pylori and the diseases peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. He published more than 250 articles on his beloved gut bacteria and was continuously funded by the NH&MRC. His appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education & Quality Improvement) at UNSW in 2000 brought Adrian Lee's career full circle. He has been the Chair of three AUQA panels. He retired from UNSW in 2006 having been made Emeritus Professor but remains committed to ensuring the quality of the educational experience at Australian universities as a consultant in higher education.

Robyn Harris Audit Director, AUQA
Robyn joined the staff of the Australian Universities Quality Agency in January 2002 and aside from audit related activities, takes primary responsibility for the Agency’s publications and training. Prior to joining AUQA, Robyn was Academic Audit Officer and then Acting Director at the New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit based in Wellington. She joined the AAU at the commencement of the Unit’s second cycle audits in 1999 and was directly involved in audits of seven of the eight universities. Previously, she worked at the University of Otago in the positions of Research Assistant and Research Fellow and is co-author of a number of publications in the fields of neurobiology and medical ethics. Robyn is a graduate of the University of Canterbury and holds an MA (first class) in Psychology.

Mairéad Browne Consultant
After an early career in Ireland, Emeritus Professor Mairéad Browne held positions at University of Sydney, Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education and University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). She was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UTS from 1991-1996 and Dean of the University Graduate School from 1997 until commencing as a freelance consultant in 2001. Current appointments include Senior Consultant for the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. She is also a member of the Australian Research Council Appeals Committee 2005-2007 and has served as a trained Auditor for AUQA since 2001. Earlier appointments at the national level included two terms on the Council of the National Library of Australia 1992-98, President of the Australian Library and Information Association 2000-2001 and Convenor for 2000 of the Deans and Directors of Graduate Schools (DDoGS). She was a member of the Knowledge Nation Task Force chaired by Barry O Jones for the Australian Labor Party 2000-2001. Mairéad has served on a number of trial audit and AUQA audit panels for Australian universities and private providers. Her involvement in quality assurance internationally includes work at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa where she advised in the area of postgraduate research education. She was a member of the Pilot Review Panel appointed by the Saudi Arabian National Council for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) to trial the Saudi quality framework in 2006. Mairéad was also engaged as a member of the Expert Panel for the AUQA-led Bahraini Universities Quality Project in 2007. She was appointed to the Register of External Reviewers of the Oman Accreditation Council for the period 2007-2010. Awards include Fellow of the Australian Library and Information Association and Emeritus Professor of University of Technology, Sydney.

Hee Kiat Cheong President, SIM University
Professor Cheong Hee Kiat is the founding President of SIM University (UniSIM), Singapore’s first private university for adult learners. He joined UniSIM in June 2005 immediately after relinquishing his appointment as Deputy President and Dean of School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Prof Cheong joined NTU in January 1986 as a lecturer. From 1987 to 1989, he was appointed as Assistant to the President of NTU. He served as the Director of the International Relations Office from 1992 to 1996. In June 1996, he was appointed as the Dean of the School of CEE (formerly known as School of Civil and Structural Engineering). Prof Cheong was appointed as NTU Deputy President in 2000, overseeing continuing education, campus development and e-Learning. He also held the post of Dean of the Graduate Studies office from 2004. Prof Cheong has served on various Singapore university and public committees and boards, including the National Institute of Education Council, Ngee Polytechnic Council, Singapore Polytechnic Board of Governors, the Public Utilities Board and the Environmental Technology Institute Board of Directors. He is currently Chairman of the BCA (Building & Construction Authority) Academy Advisory Panel, and Deputy Chairman of the Singapore Quality Award Governing Council. Prof Cheong has been involved in university accreditation and academic audit activities. He is an auditor of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). He has conducted quality audits on Deakin University and Murdoch University in 2004 & 2005 and Swinburne University of Technology in 2008. In 2000, Prof Cheong conducted programme audits (for Civil Engineering programmes) of six South Korean key national and private universities. He is currently Chairman of the Polytechnic Quality Assurance Framework in Singapore. Prof Cheong graduated with a BEng degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Adelaide, and subsequently obtained his MSc, DIC and PhD from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, U.K. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

James Taylor Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Global Learning), University of Southern Queensland
Professor Jim Taylor is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & Global Learning) at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Professor Taylor has wide experience both in Australia and overseas, as a consultant for international bodies, government agencies, tertiary institutions, professional bodies and private industry. He has undertaken major consultancy work for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), the New Zealand Academic Audit Unit, General Electric (UK), Henley Management College and IDP Australia. His published papers appear regularly as journal articles, conference proceedings and research reports in the fields of distance education, instructional design and cognitive science. Professor Taylor holds the position of President of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). In 1999 he was awarded the ICDE Individual Prize of Excellence for an active role in ICDE and internationally over many years with significant contributions made to research and development in the field of open and distance learning.