The University of Sydney Alumni Council represents all graduates and leads a program that strengthens alumni engagement and supports the University’s vision.
Established in 1939 as the Standing Committee of Convocation and renamed in 2006, the council includes over 20 alumni-led associations across faculties, regions, and interest groups.
Our role is to:
2026 Alumni Council nominations are open now until Monday 20 October.
Member nominations are open from August to October each year for the following year.
The University of Sydney Senate will meet at the end of each year to determine the outcomes of the nominations.
Members can serve up to three consecutive two-year terms.
To be appointed to the Alumni Council, all members must meet the Eligibility Criteria.
In accordance with clause 12 of the University of Sydney (Alumni Council) Rule 2014, a person is eligible for appointment as a member of the Alumni Council if his or her name appears on the register of members of Convocation kept by the Registrar.
Members of Convocation comprise the following:
To be qualified to stand for appointment to the Alumni Council, a person must be a member of Convocation.
To be qualified to nominate a candidate for appointment to the Alumni Council, a person must be a member of Convocation.
Alumni Council Nominations
Nominations for the 2026 Alumni Council are now open until Monday 20 October.
2025 Alumni Council meetings
2025 University of Sydney Senate meetings
For more information, visit the University of Sydney Senate page.
As a proud alumnus, being a member of the Alumni Council is an opportunity to find new and innovative ways to support the student and alumni experience, connect with other alumni, and celebrate our University of Sydney community.
Alumni Council President
Alumni Council President
BSc '08 Sydney GradDip JRNL UTS
Ehssan Veiszadeh is the Chief Executive Officer of Roads Australia - the national peak body for roads within an integrated transport system. Ehssan’s experience spans public policy, media and small business.
He served as a senior adviser to the NSW Premier between 2015 and 2021, during a period when NSW faced unprecedented bushfires, floods and the Covid-19 pandemic.
He has previously served as Deputy CEO for urban policy think tank Committee for Sydney, leading advocacy efforts around increasing transport-oriented development, decarbonisation and reopening the economy during the pandemic. Ehssan has also worked in media, including five years as a journalist for Australian Associated Press (AAP) and as a cofounder of a publishing company.
Ehssan serves as Chair of the Crescent Institute.
Alumni Council Deputy President
BSc (Arch) '93, BArch '96 Sydney M Arch in Urban Design '99 Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Michelle is an architect, urban designer, and urban development leader with tripartite experience in development, government, and consulting.
With more than 25 years’ experience in city shaping, Michelle brings a holistic understanding of place creation through design led strategy. She is passionate about putting people and young people first when creating connected, productive, resilient, and inspired future communities and demonstrates this through her role as a specialist advisor to UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Cities Initiative.
Prior to her current role as Principal and Practice Lead Sustainable Communities with Frazer-Nash, Michelle has held senior city-shaping roles with GHD, Lendlease, Hames Sharley, Woods Bagot, City of Sydney and Transport for NSW.
Michelle is a Sydney University medalist, Harvard University distinguished graduate, Byera Hadley, Fulbright & Knox Scholar, and city thought leader.
Alumni Council Member
LLB '80 Sydney LLM (Applied Family Law)
Lucinda studied at Sydney University Law School and resided at the Women's College in 1977-1978.
After being admitted as a lawyer in 1981 Lucinda has worked mainly in the area of family law. Lucinda became an Accredited Family Law Specialist in 2013 and is a Mediator and Lawyer. In 2014 Lucinda was appointed to the Law Society's Mediation Panel and previously served on the Law Society's Family Law Advisory Committee. Lucinda is currently a Trustee of the Landsdowne Foundation.
Alumni Council Associate
BSc '16, MD 19 Sydney
Dr Maryam Eghtedari graduated from the University of Sydney’s Double Degree Medicine Program in 2019, where she received the Outstanding Achievement Scholarship. As an ophthalmology service registrar, she has travelled across rural and remote Western Australia with the Vision Van, providing eye care to regional and First Nations communities. Her clinical training includes leading teaching hospitals in New South Wales and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne.
Maryam’s research focuses on improving access to eye care in underserved communities. She has published peer-reviewed articles in ophthalmology, medicine, and artificial intelligence, and was awarded the Young Investigator of the Year.
She also serves as an Ambassador for the Realise Charity Campaign at The Women’s College, promoting a University of Sydney education opportunity for all.
Alumni Council Associate
BCom '03, LLB '05, EMBA '23 Sydney
Peter is the Head of Distribution at CAPSPACE where he leads Sales and Distribution teams to drive growth in funds under management and secured lending distribution.
He’s also the founder of a medical technology start-up company, using innovations from space to improve the current clubfoot treatment process for both patients and parents around the world.
He is also a financial markets and banking executive with over 18 years of experience in finance, foreign exchange and digital innovation.
Alumni Council Member
BEc '98 PhD '01 Sydney
Amelia has over 20 years’ experience in investment banking including mergers and acquisitions and public/private capital raising. Amelia is a Senior Advisor at MA Financial group, having previously served as Managing Director at MA Moelis Australia. Prior to this she was an Executive Director at UBS and ran the firm’s Alternative Capital Group and small/mid-market Equity Capital Markets business in Australia.
Amelia holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Finance) and Bachelor of Economics (Honours – First Class, University Medal) from the University of Sydney and is a graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Amelia has retained an on-going involvement in tertiary education and professional development, co-authoring the university textbook “Introduction to Corporate Finance”.
Amelia is an External Member of Senate for the University of Sydney's Finance and Audit Committee and is also a member of the Cranbrook School Council.
Alumni Council Member
BCom '08 Sydney
Ashton has nearly 20 years of experience in financial services spanning the full wealth management product lifecycle. He is a leading voice in the retirement industry and is passionate about getting Australians excited about and engaged with their wealth and retirement savings, leading to a more dignified retirement. After starting his career at Deloitte and then Macquarie Group, he spent 8 years at TAL Australia as a General Manager where he launched several new retirement propositions. He recently joined Insignia Financial at the end of 2024 and is now leading its retirement strategy and customer innovation.
Ashton is also an active contributor to the University of Sydney Business School through the Discipline of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a sponsor of the Genesis Start-Up Program.
Ashton regularly writes on the Australian superannuation and retirement landscape and disruptive technology trends providing a unique perspective. He is a qualified chartered accountant and was previously recognised as the 2018 Financial Services Council Young Leader.
Alumni Council Member
BEc '94 Sydney MCom '99 UNSW
Jackie has over 25 years of marketing, digital disruption and transformation experience across media, tech, communications, and financial services. She has worked in a myriad of global and regional roles around the world with some truly impactful brands including BBC, Netflix, Skype, Virgin and Afterpay.
Since returning to Australia in 2021, Jackie is an advisor and board member to some of the leaders in the entrepreneur and innovation ecosystem including Canva, Kbox Global, KOMMA, Reejig and Football Australia.
Jackie is also on the board of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, which is dedicated to the collection, preservation and sharing of Australia’s audiovisual culture.
Alumni Council Member
BEng '93 Sydney MA '10 Deakin
Jane MacMaster is the Global Engineering Integrity Director at Babcock International Group. She is a mechanical, aerospace and systems engineer with broad experience across both the private and public sectors and the higher education sector, and across technical and non-technical disciplines. Her 30+ years’ experience encompasses a range of roles and accountabilities spanning systems engineering, engineering design, simulation and modelling, project management, risk management, team leadership, cost account management, design authority roles, facilitation, corporate strategy development, public policy design, advocacy, teaching and speaking at events.
She was previously Chief Engineer at the national engineering body, Engineers Australia.
Alumni Council Member
BA (Media & Comm) '12, LLB '13 Sydney
Alex is a lawyer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Sprintlaw, an international law/tech firm that's transforming the way legal services are delivered to small businesses. Sprintlaw operates in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and has won many industry awards, including being listed as the fastest growing legal business in the Asia Pacific region by the Financial Times in 2024.
As a lawyer, Alex specialises in the technology space and was named one of Australia's Most Influential Lawyers by Australasian Lawyer in 2022, one of Asia Law Portal’s "30 People to Watch" in the Business of Law in Asia in 2020 and was selected by Lawyer’s Weekly as the top under 30 technology & media lawyer in Australia in 2019.
Prior to founding Sprintlaw, Alex worked as a technology lawyer at Clayton Utz and was the founder and managing director of Spidr, an online digital agency which he sold in 2015.
Alumni Council Member
B.Med.Sc. '09 BMedSc(Hons) '11 Sydney B Oral Health and Dental Science Griffith University M Public Health, M Health Management UNSW, Grad Cert Med Hlth and Leadership UOW
Mohit is a regional dentist in the Illawarra, balancing clinical practice, leadership, and community service. Starting his career in Shepparton, he now works in Dapto and operates his own clinic in Shellharbour.
Alongside ongoing professional studies, he has contributed significantly to healthcare, Indigenous education, dental advocacy, multicultural engagement, and youth leadership.
Mohit has led numerous charitable dental programs with local and national impact, earning awards such as the University of Sydney Young Alumni Award, Shellharbour Citizen of the Year, and the Pride of Australia Medal. In 2023, he was named among the ‘World’s Top 100 Doctors’ by the Global Summits Institute. He also influences dental policy as Deputy Chair of the ADA NSW Advocacy Committee, member of the ADA Federal Policy Committee, and Council Member of the Dental Council of NSW, promoting safe, effective, and patient-centred care statewide.
Alumni Council Member
MCom ’10 Sydney
Marina is an experienced leader, with broad international expertise in essential infrastructure (Sydney Water), fintech (OFX), wealth management (CommBank) and investment banking (ABN AMRO and Bear Stearns). She is a conscious leadership advocate and change agent and is passionate about understanding how we can create more equitable and sustainable futures.
At Sydney Water, Marina is reimagining the possibilities at the intersection of essential infrastructure scaling, sustainability, and the evolving political landscape. In her current role, Marina is developing commercial and business models that connect public infrastructure with private sector development to maximise social impact.
Alumni Council Member
MLMgt '06 MCom '06 Sydney
Samuel was born in Guangzhou China and came to Australia in 2004, completing Master of Commerce and Master of Logistics Management at the University of Sydney in 2006. He is the founder of investment service organisation, Australian Eternity Investments.
Samuel is passionate about the continual development of a network for Chinese alumni to maintain a meaningful link with the University of Sydney.