Statements from Candidates

Nominees for Office-bearer and Councillor positions were requested to provide brief statements (approx. 250 words) outlining how their expertise and experience would fit them for these roles and would benefit the Society.

Where candidates provided their statements by the close of nominations at 5.00 pm AEDT on Friday, 28 February 2025, they are listed below in alphabetical order, accessible from the links shown.

• Sean Brawley FRSN — candidate for Councillor
• Erin Gao MRSN — candidate for Treasurer
• Medy Hassan OAM FRSN — candidate for Councillor
• Liz Killen MRSN — candidate for Councillor
• Holly Randell-Moon MRSN – candidate for Councillor
• Michael Taylor FRSN — candidate for Councillor
• Zile Yu MRSN — candidate for Councillor

Sean Brawley FRSN — candidate for Councillor

Prof. Sean Brawley FRSN BA (Hons) PhD GradCert (HigherEd) PFHEA

ended my full-time academic career as Professor of History and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategy and Assurance) at the Universityof Wollongong (UOW) in late 2024. I retain Honorary Professorships at UNSW, Macquarie University, and UOW. As well as a Fellow of the Society, I am a Principal Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and former Vice-President and Asia-Pacific Director of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Before my election to Council in 2022, I served on the Council’s Bicentennial Sub-Committee for two years, with one year as secretary. Upon election to Council, I assumed the role of Chair of the Fellows and Members Assessment Committee (FMAC) and have served on the Council executive.

In addition to the day-to-day business of FMAC and Council, I was engaged in revising the Society’s membership rules, which members endorsed in 2023 and 2024. I also assumed the Chair of the Working Group (with Donald Hector and Liz Killen), which recently examined a range of issues related to membership and member engagement. If elected, I look forward to continuing to support the Society’s affairs.

Erin Gao MRSN — candidate for Treasurer

Erin Gao BCom MCom CA GAICD MRSN

I am a GAICD and CA-qualified finance professional with significant experience across a diverse range of industries, bringing deep expertise in corporate governance, budgeting and forecasting, P&L ownership, financial strategy, and risk management. Throughout my career, I have partnered closely with Boards and executives to strengthen financial controls, improve transparency, and support sustainable growth. I have led high-performing finance teams, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. My experience includes delivering against challenging financial targets, enhancing reporting frameworks, and implementing robust cost monitoring and income-stream analysis to support informed decision-making. I am confident in acting as a trusted advisor at the Council level, providing clear, strategic financial insight to support sound governance.

If elected, I aim to help build a financially sustainable and resilient Society, with strong governance, effective cost management, and clear visibility across income streams. I am particularly focused on strengthening long-term financial planning, ensuring resources are aligned to strategic priorities, and supporting future growth through disciplined financial stewardship. I am committed to contributing my experience, judgement, and collaborative approach to help the Society thrive and deliver lasting value to its members.

Medy Hassan OAM FRSN — candidate for Councillor

Medy Hassan AM FRSN FAIB BAppSc (Dist) BArch (Hons)

Medy Hassan is a distinguished leader whose career spans education, finance, governance, strategy and cross-sector collaboration across academic, research and industry domains. A nationally recognised executive and board director, he brings deep expertise in capital stewardship, strategic investment, risk management and institutional sustainability.

As a current Council Member of the University of Canberra (and Acting Deputy Chancellor), and a current Council Member of the Royal Society of NSW, Medy has demonstrated a sustained commitment to advancing scholarly excellence and strengthening institutional capability. As Chair of the Society’s Future Fund, he has led the development of a long-term capital strategy to secure financial sustainability and independence. His leadership has centred on expanding philanthropic engagement, building strategic partnerships across universities and industry, and mobilising high-level academic, research and professional networks to generate enduring financial capacity.

Medy’s Order of Australia Medal recognises his service to business, education and community leadership. As a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Institute of Building, he combines intellectual depth with disciplined financial acumen — an essential capability as learned societies balance academic purpose with prudent capital management.

If elected, Medy will continue to contribute strategic leadership, governance rigour and fundraising capability, while deepening collaboration between research institutions, emerging scholars and industry partners to strengthen the Society’s resilience, relevance and long-term sustainability.

Liz Killen MRSN — candidate for Councillor

Dr Liz Killen PhD MSc BEng MRSN

Council Membership: Liz has served on the RSNSW Council since 2024. In this time, she has provided support to the society’s drive to recruit more young and diverse members and has been working to establish a new RSNSW podcast.

Experience: Liz is currently the Research Director with the Social Research Centre, an ANU Enterprise, and a visiting fellow of ANU. Immediately before this role, she served as an Assistant Manager in the science policy team of the Office of Australia’s Chief Scientist.

Contribution to the Society: To the Council, Liz brings an understanding of:

• The role and influence of the academies, gained through liaison with Australian and British Academies during former roles within the Australian and UK Government, in the Office of the Chief Scientist.
• Risk and audit, gained through a 3-year membership of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Risk and Audit Committee
• Membership processes, including chartered status, gained through a previous role in a UK learned society

Qualifications: PhD, University of Cambridge, UK; MSc, Imperial College London, UK; BEng (Hons), UNSW Sydney

Holly Randell-Moon MRSN — candidate for Councillor

Dr Holly Randell-Moon PhD MRSN

Holly Randell-Moon is an established university researcher focused on community and First Nations social values in media, infrastructure, planning, and regional development. She has twenty years of research experience and has completed projects funded by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, InternetNZ, the State Library of New South Wales, and evaluations for MidCoast Assist. These projects and evaluations focused on community and social inclusion in digital technologies, libraries, and regional planning. Holly has experience with creating accessible reports with clear recommendations for government and professional bodies. She is currently conducting research with the National Trust on First Nations inclusion in regional heritage and working on locally generated renewable energy in the Central West.

Holly is based at the Dubbo campus of Charles Sturt University, where she is an Associate Professor in Indigenous Studies. She has been a member of the Society since 2021 and served as a committee member of the Western NSW Branch of the Society since 2023.

Michael Taylor FRSN — candidate for Councillor

Dr Michael Taylor FRSN BA (Hons) DPhil GradDipLaw LLM LFRSA

My aim is to bring to the Society my broad experience in academia, public policy and the commercial world. I have recently returned to research and teaching after a long career in public service, where I worked in a number of central banks and regulatory agencies around the world, as well as in a senior management position for the credit ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Service. As such, I am very familiar with best practices in budgeting processes and managing substantial budgets. Earlier in my career, I also edited a specialist journal, The Financial Regulator, and can therefore bring to the Society my experience in helping to shape and direct publications.

I believe that the Society can play an important role in the intellectual life of New South Wales, and in Australia, more broadly. It provides a unique forum for the interchange of ideas across disciplines and between academics and practitioners, with the aim of making practical improvements in the condition of our lives. Given the wide range of immense challenges that we currently face in Australia and as a species — geopolitics, climate change, the rise of AI and many others — the tasks facing the Society can only continue to grow into the future. But we have the opportunity to build on the foundations and to help realise the vision of those who founded the Society two hundred years ago.

Zile Yu MRSN — candidate for Councillor

Zile Yu BCom LLB GDLP MRSN

I am seeking election to the Council of the Royal Society of NSW. As a lawyer and commerce graduate, I bring skills that are critical to the Society in this time of change. I hold a BCom and LLB from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from ANU. I have been admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister in the Supreme Court of WA and in the High Court of New Zealand and appointed a Notary Public in the Supreme Court of NSW.

I am the Managing Partner of Quantum Law Group, which I founded in 2019. I have led the firm and its lawyers to be recognised in over 100 legal and business awards (over 40 of which I have personally won or been listed in), including being the only law firm listed in the Australian Financial Review’s Fast Starters’ List in 2023 and 2024, and the fastest growing legal business in the Asia Pacific ranked by the Financial Times High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2025

Over the last four years, I have been active in the Royal Society of NSW. My company, the Quantum Law Group, was a sponsor of the annual dinner in 2023 and 2024. My team and I supported Ross and Pamela Griffith’s organisation of the dinner in 2025, and this year we undertook the overall arrangements for the event at Parliament House. My firm has also provided pro-bono advice to the Society on the DGR status of the Library. I would hope to work with the Librarian to resolve the issues of what are appropriate activities for a library in the twenty-first century, and maintain our DGR status.Toner Stevenson MRSN — candidate for CouncillorZile Yu MRSN — candidate for Councillor

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