Zygmunt Edward "Ziggy" Switkowski (born 1948) is a

Polish Australian Polish Australians refers to Australians, Australian citizens or residents of full or partial Polish people, Polish ancestry. In 2021, 45,884 Australian residents declared that they were born in Poland. The Australian states with the largest P ...

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

and

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

. His most public role was as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Australia's largest telecommunications company

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

from 1999 to 2005. During his tenure, he oversaw the

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of the then

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

through a series of public

tranche In structured finance, a tranche () is one of a number of related securities offered as part of the same transaction. In the financial sense of the word, each bond is a different slice of the deal's risk. Transaction documentation (see indent ...

sales (known as the ''T1'', ''T2'' and ''T3'' sales). Later positions were chairman of both

NBN Co NBN Co Limited, known simply as nbn, is a state-owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. NBN Co reports to tw ...

and

Suncorp Suncorp Group Limited, known simply as Suncorp, is an Australian finance, insurance and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 1 December 1996 by the merger of Suncorp, Metway Bank and the Queensland Ind ...

, a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of Healthscope,

Oil Search Oil Search was the largest oil and gas exploration and development company incorporated in Papua New Guinea, which operated all of the country's oilfields. In December 2021, it merged with the Australian company Santos. History Oil Search was ...

and

Tabcorp Tabcorp is Australia's largest gambling company, employing more than 5,000 people. It is the largest provider of wagering and gaming products and services in Australia. Tabcorp is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). History In ...

and the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

(RMIT University).Ziggy Switkowski BSc (Hons), PhD, FAICD, FTSE
. ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

''.

Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately-held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Ze ...

Retrieved: 16 November 2010.

Early life

Switkowski was born in Germany in 1948 to

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

parents. His family migrated to Australia when he was one year old and settled in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He attended St Bernard's College in

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

(a suburb of Melbourne), and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

(at 24 years old) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

where he was resident at

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. H ...

. He then completed six years of

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

Career

Kodak

Switkowksi joined

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

as a research scientist in 1978. He moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, becoming Kodak's director of business planning in 1985. In 1988, he returned to Australia, becoming deputy managing director of Kodak's Australian subsidiary, and in 1992, became its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. He would later say about his time as CEO of Kodak Australasia, "that's when I morphed from being a technologist to being a business executive … and I do think they were my character-forming years." In 1995, Switkowski received the

Advance Australia Award The Advance Australia Foundation (AAF) was established in 1980. The AAF recognised "individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and enhancement of Australia, the Australian people and the Australian way of life". I ...

for outstanding achievement in industry and commerce.

Optus and Telstra

In 1996, Switkowski became CEO of Australia's second largest telecommunications company

Optus Singtel Optus Pty Limited is an Australian Telecommunications in Australia, telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiar ...

. On 1 March 1999, Switkowski was appointed chief executive officer of Australia's public and largest telecommunications company Telstra, and to the board of directors of Telstra's

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

partner

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

. Before his appointment, he was group managing director of Telstra's Business and International Development division. During his tenure at Telstra, Switkowski oversaw the introduction of a number of services to the company; such as its major

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

subsidiary

BigPond Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecom ...

, and substantial expansion of others; such as its advertising and directories subsidiary Pacific Access (later re-branded as Sensis in 2002). Switkowski oversaw the implementation of the second

sale of Telstra (the 'T2' sale) on the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as, ...

New Zealand Stock Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. , the NZX had a total of 179 listed securiti ...

and

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

that began in September 1999. The first tranche sale of Telstra (the 'T1' sale) took place before Switkowski was appointed CEO of Telstra. He also oversaw the planning for the third tranche sale of Telstra (the 'T3' sale). Switkowski resigned from Telstra on 3 December 2004, and was replaced by Solomon Trujillo.Murry, Lisa. Kruger, Colin. 20 September 2005
Sun comes out for Ziggy Switkowski
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''.

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

. Retrieved 16 November 2010.

NBN

On 3 October 2013, Switkowski was confirmed as the new chairman and interim CEO of NBN Co by Communications Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, and reverted to the role of Non-Executive Chairman from 2 April 2014 following the appointment of Bill Morrow as chief executive officer. This followed a decision to deliver the NBN with 'alternative technologies' such as Fibre to the node and the use of a Multi-Technology Mix (MTM).

Nuclear research

On 6 June 2006, Switkowski was appointed to chair a

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...

into the viability of a domestic

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

industry. He was later appointed chairman of the

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is a statutory body of the Australian Government that is responsible for nuclear research and the production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. It was established in Apr ...

(ANSTO) by federal Minister for Science

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...

on 4 March 2007. Switkowski was originally appointed to the board of ANSTO on 1 January 2006, but stood down when appointed to the inquiry. After the completion of the inquiry, he was then reappointed to the board as chairman on 1 March 2007. His term as chairman concluded at the end of 2010. The inquiry concluded that Australia is well positioned to increase its production and export of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

as well as adding nuclear power to its own

energy mix The energy mix is a group of different primary energy, primary energy sources from which secondary energy for direct use - such as electricity - is produced. Energy mix refers to all direct uses of energy, such as transportation and housing, and ...

. However, an independent panel of Australian scientists and nuclear experts have been critical of these findings, claiming that they relied upon flawed assumptions while dodging important questions such as the disposal of

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

and the potential

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

implications of increased mining.

Other directorships

Switkowski served as a non-executive director of the multinational packaging company

Amcor Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products. The ...

from 1995 to 1999. On 19 September 2005, Switkowski took a non-executive director role with Suncorp-Metway – his first position after resigning from Telstra.Biography – Zygmunt E Switkowski
Suncorp-Metway. Retrieved 16 November 2010. Since then he has become the chairman as of the 2011 Annual General Meeting. In 2006, Switkowski was appointed president of the board of directors of the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of screen culture including film, television, videogames, digital culture and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbo ...

on 1 January – for a three-year term. He also took non-executive director roles with Healthscope on 19 January, and with

Tabcorp Holdings Tabcorp is Australia's largest Gambling in Australia, gambling company, employing more than 5,000 people. It is the largest provider of wagering and gaming products and services in Australia. Tabcorp is listed on the Australian Securities Exch ...

on 2 October.Media Release: Dr Ziggy Switkowski appointed to the Tabcorp Board
19 December 2005.

. Retrieved 16 November 2010. In 2011 Switkowski was serving as a director of rare earth miner Lynas Corporation as per the director's Share Purchase Notice. Switkowski was elected chairman of

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

and on the board of directors of the

Business Council of Australia The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is an industry association that comprises the chief executives of more than 130 of Australia's biggest corporations. It was formed in 1983 by the merger of the Business Roundtable – a spin-off of the Co ...

. Switkowski was later appointed to the Board of Oilsearch. In August 2021, Switkowski was appointed as Chairman of

Crown Resorts Crown Resorts Limited is an Australian gaming and entertainment group that owns and operates three integrated resorts, including Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth and Crown Sydney. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange until purcha ...

, Australia's largest gambling, gaming and entertainment company.Ziggy Switkowski to stand down as RMIT Chancellor
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 7 September 2021

RMIT

On 27 October 2010, it was announced that Switkowski would become the

of the

(RMIT University). He was officially appointed to the position on 1 January 2011. On 7 September 2021, Switkowsi announced that he would step down from the position of Chancellor of RMIT by the end of October 2021, two weeks after he was appointed as Chairman of Crown Resorts. Peggy O'Neal succeeded Switkowski as Chancellor in January 2022.

Honours

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Switkowski was appointed as an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO), for "distinguished service to the community, particularly to tertiary education administration, scientific organisations and the telecommunications sector, to business, and to the arts". Switkowski is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and also of the

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences was foun ...

(FTSE). In 2015 he was elected Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

(FAA).

Personal life

Switkowski is married and lives with his wife near Cape Schanck, on Melbourne's

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...

.PR's for the judge
10 September 2005. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''.

. Retrieved 16 November 2010.

References

External links

Ziggy goes nuclear – ABC Interview

Ziggy Switkowksi Interview – CEO Forum Group

* ttp://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nuclear-costs-understated-reports-critics/2006/11/21/1163871403156.html 'Nuclear costs understated: report's critics' Sydney Morning Herald, 22 November 2006
'Peer review panel says Switkowksi's nuclear timeframe is unrealistic' The World Today – Tuesday, 12 December 2006 12:29:00

{{DEFAULTSORT:Switkowski, Ziggy 1948 births Living people Australian people of Polish descent German emigrants to Australia People educated at St. Bernard's College, Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Australian chief executives Telstra people NBN Co people Chancellors of RMIT University Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Scientists from Melbourne Businesspeople from Melbourne