Ross Dobinson has extensive corporate advisory and investment banking experience. He has also taken an entrepreneurial role in the commercialisation of technologies in a range of fields, including: agricultural science, pharmaceuticals, environmentally-friendly packaging, medical devices, drug delivery technology and nutriceuticals. Mr Dobinson has experience in company formation, seed, mezzanine and IPO funding, specialising in the life sciences sector, where he has been a founding director, investor and executive of listed and unlisted companies.
Commencing as a chartered accountant with Hungerfords, Mr Dobinson has held positions as a Director of the listed stockbroking firm of Jacksons Limited, Head of Corporate Advisory Services at the stockbroking firm operated by National Australia Bank Limited (A.C. Goode & Co. Ltd), Director of National Australia Corporate Advisory Limited, and Director of Corporate Advisory of Dresdner Australia Proprietary Limited.
Mr Dobinson has taken two highly successful biotechnology companies from pre-seed stage to listed status with a current market capitalisation of $400 million. In addition, he has been involved in venture capital initiatives in Australia, Europe and the United States.
Mr Dobinson is currently Chairman of Acrux Limited, Micronix Pty Ltd, Diagnotech Pty Ltd, Farm By Nature Pty Ltd and TPI Enterprises Ltd. He is also a Director of Starpharma Holdings Limited, Origin Capital Limited, Sienna Cancer Diagnostics Ltd, PharmaQest Pty Ltd, Healthfarm Fine Foods Pty Ltd and Racing Victoria Limited.
Mr Dobinson was appointed Executive Chairman of the Company on 21 July 2010.
Professor Adrienne E Clarke
AC FAA, FTSE, BSC (HONS), PHD (THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE)
Deputy Chairman
Professor Adrienne Clarke is a founding member of Hexima, and served as Chief Science Officer from April 2006 to June 2009. Professor Clarke is Laureate Professor at The University of Melbourne. She was appointed to a Personal Chair at the School of Botany (awarded in 1982) and is past Director of the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, The University of Melbourne (1982-1999), former Chairman of CSIRO (1991-96), former Lieutenant Governor of Victoria (1997-2000) and former Ambassador for Biotechnology for Victoria (2001-2003). She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1991 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2004.
Professor Clarke was President of the International Society for Plant Molecular Biology (1997-98). She is a Foreign Member, American Academy of Arts and Science; Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences, USA; Companion, The Institute of Engineers, Australia; Fellow, Australian Academy of Science; and Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Professor Clarke was formerly a Director of Woolworths Ltd and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd.
Professor Clarke has been a Director of the Company since 15 November 2001 and is a member of the Remuneration and the Audit and Risk Management Committees.
Steven M Skala
AO, BA, LL.B (HONS) (UNIVERSITY OF QLD),
BCL (OXFORD UNIVERSITY)
Chairman, Non-Executive Director
Steven Skala is Vice Chairman, Australia and New Zealand of Deutsche Bank AG. He is a former commercial lawyer with more than 20 years experience in commercial law. Between 1982 and 1985, he was a partner of law firm Morris Fletcher and Cross (now Minter Ellison). Between 1985 and 2004 he was a partner of law firm, Arnold Bloch Leibler, and was Head of its Corporate and Commercial Practice for several years.
Mr Skala is the Chairman of Media and Gaming Pty Limited, a Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Australia Limited, Max Capital Group Ltd, Wilson HTM Investment Group Limited, The Australian Ballet and The Centre for Independent Studies. He is also the Vice President of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research and he is Deputy Chairman of the General Sir John Monash Foundation. He is a former Chairman of Film Australia Limited and a former director of the Australian Ballet.
Mr Skala has been a Director of the Company since 17 May 2002 and is also a member of the Audit and Risk Management and Remuneration Committees. He served as Chairman of the Company from 2002 to 30 June 2008 and from 2 October 2009 to 21 July 2010.
Joshua Hofheimer
AB (DARTMOUTH COLLEGE), JD (HARVARD LAW SCHOOL)
Non-Executive Director
Joshua Hofheimer served as CEO of Hexima from July 2008 to July 2010. Mr Hofheimer has extensive experience in the agricultural science and biotechnology sectors, in structuring and negotiating complex commercial transactions and joint ventures with both start-ups and global industry leaders.
Mr Hofheimer’s previous role was Partner at Sidley Austin LLP, a Los Angeles based international law firm. For the past 7 years, he specialised in the plant biotechnology sector, including developing and implementing business strategies for commercialisation of multiple intellectual property platforms. He also served as a leader in the firm’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Transactions Practice.
Mr Hofheimer has been a member of several boards, including the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation at UCLA and the Zimmer Children’s Museum, and is active in charitable foundations such as the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women’s Cancers.
Hugh M Morgan
AC LLB, BCOMM (THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE)
Non-Executive Director
Hugh Morgan is Principal of First Charnock Pty Ltd, and a member of the Lafarge International Advisory Board. He is also a Trustee of The Asia Society New York, President of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation and Chairman of the Order of Australia Association Foundation.
Mr Morgan was a Director of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia until July 2007 and he was President of the Business Council of Australia from 2003 to 2005. He is also immediate Past President of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee and immediate Past Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Business Council, and continuing Director.
Mr Morgan was Chief Executive Officer of WMC Limited from 1986 to 2003. He was a Director of Alcoa of Australia from 1977 to 1998 and a Director of Alcoa Inc from 1998 to 2001.
Mr Morgan has been a Director of the Company since 10 May 2007. He is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Professor Jonathan West
BA (UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY), PHD (HARVARD UNIVERSITY)
Non-Executive Director
Professor Jonathan West is the Director of the Australian Innovation Research Centre. Prior to assuming his current appointment, he taught for 18 years at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, where he was Associate Professor, founding Director of the Harvard University Life Sciences Initiative, and from 1998-1999 the Novartis Faculty Research Fellow. He has been Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University and the Nomura School of Advanced Management in Tokyo, Japan and Visiting Professor at the University de Paris IX-Dauphine, Sorbonne.
Professor West is also Chairman of the Asia Advisory Council of Bunge Ltd, one of the world’s largest agribusiness processing and trading companies, and has served as an advisor to other major corporations and several Governments around the world, including in the life sciences field, DuPont, Roche, Novartis, Syngenta and the J.R. Simplot Company, along with the Governments of Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and France. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California. In Australia, he has served on the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering, Innovation Council’s Working Group on Science and Technology in China and India and in 2006 was ‘Eminent Thinker in Residence’ with the Premier of NSW.
Professor West has been a Director of the Company since 7 November 2005. He is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.
