School Advisory Board

The Board plays a key role in the School's education, research and engagement activities. It assists and helps develop strategic relationships with business, government and the community.

The Advisory Board is comprised of industry leaders working in various senior roles from a range of sectors who assist the School to fulfil its mission and vision.

Professor Aron O'Cass

Dean, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University

Professor Aron O'Cass is a world-renowned expert in marketing strategy, innovation and new product development, brand management and data analysis, and a champion of industry engagement in higher education. Aron has expertise in bringing together insights from strategy, firm resources and capabilities, and examining their effect on branding, value creation, innovation, and firm performance in the context of goods and services which converges on both the firm side and customer side regarding theory and practice. He has conducted research in a wide range of industry (small-to-medium enterprises, large firms, manufacturing, services, tourism and politics) and country contexts, especially in Asia with research in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Iran and other countries.

Aron has published over 130 articles in leading international journals. He has guest edited special issues in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, British Journal of Management, Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Business Research. He has been a Chief Investigator on major grants, served on the Australian Research Council College of Experts, and as a Member of Excellence in Research Australia, Excellence in Research Evaluation Committee. He has supervised over 40 Research Higher Degree students to completion. Overall, his published works have received more than 20,000 citations. He has a H-index of 69 (Google) and is rated in the top one per cent of research productive marketing scholars globally for both career and single year impact.

Craig Scroggie

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEXTDC, and Chair, La Trobe Business School Advisory Board

Craig Scroggie is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of NEXTDC, Australia’s leading Data-Centre-as-a-Service provider. Prior to becoming CEO in June 2012, Mr Scroggie served on the Board of Directors since IPO (2010) as a Non-Executive Director, including as Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Mr Scroggie has more than 25 years’ experience in the ICT industry, having held senior positions with Symantec, Veritas Software, Computer Associates, EMC Corporation and Fujitsu. Prior to joining NEXTDC, Mr Scroggie was Symantec’s Vice President and Managing Director for the Pacific Region.

Mr Scroggie is a graduate of the University of Southern Queensland and holds an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology, a Graduate Certificate in Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, a Master of Business Administration; and is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In 2013 Mr Scroggie was awarded the University of Southern Queensland Faculty of Business & Law Alumnus of the Year and in 2015 was inducted into the ARN ICT Industry Awards Hall of Fame.

Anne Marie Baldwin

General Manager, Talent, Remuneration Culture and Capability, Australia Post

Anne Marie Baldwin is Australia Post’s General Manager of Talent, Remuneration, Culture and Capability. With over 70,000 employees, community postal agents, licensees and contractors across Australia, Anne Marie is responsible for leading Australia Post’s people strategy relating to capability, inclusion, remuneration and performance to drive future growth by continuously meeting changing customer and community needs. Anne Marie is a purpose and values driven executive that is dedicated to working with Australia Post’s people in creating the workforce where they can thrive professionally and personally, while delivering value for customers, community, and business.

Prior to her current role, Anne Marie held senior HR, safety and transformation roles across retail and health industries. She approaches HR with a commercial mindset and is experienced in leading, directing and managing multiple programs across large organisations, delivering outcomes to customers and team members alike. Anne Marie is passionate about developing teams and individual team members to be highly successful and effective. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) from La Trobe University and a Master of Business from the Swinburne University.

Roger Foenander

Vice President Group Taxation and Treasury, Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited

Roger Foenander specialises in finance, strategy, mergers, and acquisitions, international tax, treasury, international compliance/governance, reporting and internal/external stakeholder management. In April 2018, he joined Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited as the Global Head of Taxation and, in November 2019, added Treasury to his responsibilities. In this role, Roger serves as the principal internal adviser to the Board, Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Management and businesses globally on taxation and treasury matters and has profit and loss contribution responsibility for the global taxation and interest expense result. With regional business teams, he develops and manages Reliance's global legal ownership, funding, and tax structures.

Previously, Roger spent 18 years at Amcor Limited, including seven years based in Zurich as the Vice-Present of Strategic Development. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser (The Tax Institute of Australia), a Chartered Accountant (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand), a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Gerard Mullins

Founder and Managing Director, Mullins Advisory Pty Ltd

Gerard Mullins is an experienced business leader who has had executive roles with Pacific Dunlop, Australian Defence Industries, and Illinois Tool Works. He founded ASTA Solutions Pty Ltd and grew that business over 15 years, leading to a successful sale in 2014. Gerard has over 25 years’ corporate business management experience within the manufacturing, information technology, and building and construction industries. This experience is augmented by various qualifications in business leadership and administration, building and construction, technology management, risk management and governance, company directorship and management best practice.

Gerard holds directorships in the not-for-profit sector and is on the boards of multiple private unlisted companies. He is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Chartered Manager (Chartered Management Institute).’

Caroline Patton

Founder and CEO, Accuteque Global Pty Ltd

Caroline Patton is Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Accuteque and The AVR Lab. As a mother of three and with the support of her husband, Caroline has built the Accuteque business over 18 years with a focus on helping reshape other businesses, enabling them to be more sustainable. She is passionate about delivering quality outcomes and providing people with a positive experience when it comes to change and transformational programs.

Caroline has consulted at senior levels in multinational companies and is a specialist in business strategy, organisational design, operating rhythms, IT solution sourcing and delivery. She is a highly competent, successful and professional leader with experience across a range of industries including management consulting, professional services, membership organisations, finance, banking, insurance, superannuation, airline, petroleum, retail, logistics, utilities and telecommunications.

Mark Stretton

Partner, Deloitte

Mark Stretton is a Chartered Accountant and company auditor; he is a partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu where he has over 30 years’ experience in Australia and internationally.  He currently leads Deloitte Australia’s financial services audit practice and is the auditor for several financial institutions in the banking and investment management sector. Over his career Mark has served a wide range of clients across multiple practice areas including external audit, internal audit, corporate finance transaction services and insolvency.  Mark is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Australian Accounting Standards Board and the Australian Auditing Standards Board, a Trustee of the Sir Robert Menzies Lecture Trust, and the Chairman of the Malvern electorate for the Liberal party in Victoria.  He is the former chairman of the Advisory Board for the Department of Accounting at La Trobe University.  He is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand, CPA Australia, and a Fellow of FINSIA. He has degrees in economics and commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.

Luke Wilson

Cross Border Commissioner, State Government of Victoria

Luke Wilson is Victoria's Cross Border Commissioner, based in Wodonga, and is also a member of the Regional Advisory Board for La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus. Luke has previously led state departmental agriculture, resources and energy portfolios including biosecurity, fisheries, game, animal welfare and mining regulators, as well as the regulatory practice, policy, research and service areas. In each of these roles, Luke has led policy development on many of the key issues facing Victoria's agriculture industries and rural communities.

Luke previously worked as an energy and transport access regulator in South Australia, in economic consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, in policy analysis with the Commonwealth and as an operational forester in Myrtleford as well as Alabama (United States) and Nova Scotia (Canada).

Anthony Haberfield

Executive General Manager, Strategic Change & Partnering Technology and Operations, IAG

Anthony brings over 25 years of international experience in developing organisational strategy and executing large transformations in the financial services sector across the Asia Pacific region. He brings extensive capability in strategy development, project management, procurement, business process outsourcing, commercial management and driving simplification of complex businesses by leveraging emerging technology. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University. He is currently the Executive General Manager, Strategic Change and Partnering at Insurance Australia group (ASX: IAG) and is a Non-Executive Director of private equity firm Hardenbrook. Anthony is passionate about developing talent and providing unique experiences to continue personal growth.

Professor Axel Schulz

Deputy Dean, Research and Industry Engagement and Professor of Management Accounting, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University

Professor Axel Schulz is Deputy Dean Research and Industry Engagement and Professor of Management Accounting in the La Trobe Business School at La Trobe University. Prior to joining La Trobe, Axel was a Professor at Monash University, where he served in several roles including Head of Department of Accounting. Prior to this, he held appointments at The University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales.

Axel specialises in behavioural accounting with a focus is on the design of management control systems, performance measurement systems and incentive system design. He has published in leading international and national accounting journals including the Journal of Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Journal of Management Accounting Research, Behavioural Research in Accounting and Accounting and Finance. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of International Accounting Research. He has also reviewed for Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Organizations and Society and other international refereed journals.

Professor Panos Piperopoulos

Associate Dean, Academic Partnership International and Professor of Strategic Management,
La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University

Professor Panos Piperopoulos is the Associate Dean, Academic Partnerships International and Professor of Strategic Management in the La Trobe Business School. Panos has served in different roles and leadership positions at academic institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Hong Kong. For many years, he was a business consultant and a mentor to entrepreneurial start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises. Panos has also been the principal or academic team member on competitive and industry grants worth approximately $A1.4 million. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Small Business Management. His work has been published in leading international journals such as Research Policy, Journal of World Business, Global Strategy Journal, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development and Journal of Small Business Management.

Associate Professor Michael Volkov

Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University

Associate Professor Michael Volkov is the Associate Dean Learning and Teaching in the La Trobe Business School at La Trobe University. With over 20 years’ experience in higher education and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he places students and staff at the centre of his endeavours. Michael has received several awards for his contribution to education including over a dozen Vice-Chancellor and faculty teaching, learning and service awards; the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Distinguished Educator Award (2015); Australian Awards for University Teaching (2013 and 2020); and the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Award (2018).

Michael is regularly invited to present at other institutions and serve on expert and advisory panels in matters of learning and teaching, accreditation, curriculum design and strategy, and appointments. His research focuses on consumer behaviour and teaching and learning, with publications appearing in leading international journals including European Journal of Marketing, British Journal of Educational Technology, Education + Training, Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, and International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning. He is co-author of the leading international textbook, Principles of Marketing, with Gary Armstrong, Sara Denize and Philip Kotler.