Professor Margaret Seares AO

Margaret Seares AO (b. 1948), chair of the Perth International Arts Festival from 2012 to 2016 and senior deputy vice chancellor at the University of Western Australia from 2004 to 2008, began her academic career specialising in keyboard music of the eighteenth century. Having gained her doctorate from the University of Western Australia, she was head of its school of music from 1993 to 1995. Her career changed direction when she was offered a secondment to the state government to run what is now the Department of Culture and the Arts. She has since served as chair of the Australia Council, chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Arts Advisory Committee and deputy chair of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra; in 2005, she chaired the National Review into School Music Education, spearheading a re-think of music curricula in Australian schools. From 2000 to 2006 she served on the board of the National Portrait Gallery. An Honorary Life Member of the Chamber of Arts and Culture, she has also served on the Education Investment Fund, the Chamber of Arts and Culture and the council of Bond University. Awarded the gold medal of the West Australian arm of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, she is a consistent and enthusiastic advocate for the new West Australian Museum.