The Australian Institute of Company Directors today announced that Mr John Colvin, a partner of commercial law firm Freehills and its Sydney Head of Office, had been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer.
“I am very pleased that a man of John’s experience has accepted this role, and I know that he will be a catalyst to moving the AICD into a new and challenging era,” said AICD chairman Mr John Story. “In doing that, I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of interim CEO Andrew Madry and AICD staff during the past six months.”
Mr Colvin has a background in advocacy, holds several directorships and served as an AICD committee member developing policy on executive payment and remuneration. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).
“AICD is Australia’s leading director organisation, and it’s now up to me and the team to take that to the next level,” Mr Colvin said. “The challenge is to make AICD as effective as it can possibly be.
“This is a very important time for the regulation of corporations and of directors. I would like to see that a voice of reasonable and rational debate exists so that one of the greatest inventions, the limited liability company, continues to build wealth for our nation. We need to attract the best and the brightest into the ranks of directors, continuously apply good corporate governance systems and improve the levels of education and training that is required.”
During the past 10 years Mr Colvin has advised many top Australian companies on a range of corporate governance issues, including on CEO and executive appointments. His specialty is employment law and corporate governance in this area.
Mr Colvin has been a partner at Freehills since 1981. He graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) after studying economics and industrial relations. He continued his academic work at the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating with a Master of Science (economics) before studying at Oxford where he gained his law degree.
Mr Colvin has been a director of the Sydney Water Board (1993-97) and served as a full-time professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management in 1995. He is chairman and president of the regional NSW cancer charity, CanAssist, and a director of a family wine company, Colvin Wines Pty Ltd. He is married to an anaesthetist, Dr Robyn Smiles, and has two children. His hobbies include tennis and winemaking.
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