Historical officers

His Eminence Cardinal Edward Clancy AC, DD, LSS was the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn from 1978 to 1983 when he was appointed Archbishop of Sydney, a position he held until 2001.

He was appointed as the first Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in 1991 and oversaw the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia, which became Australian Catholic University (see ACU History). He was a member of ACU Senate from 1991 to 2000.

Cardinal Clancy passed at the age of 90 after a lifetime of service to the Catholic Church.

BA DipEd (Syd) CertRelFormation (St Louis) GradDipLangInEd (CSU)

Brother Julian McDonald CFC, AO was appointed Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in November 2000. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1992 to 2010, and served as Pro-Chancellor from 1995-2000.

In October 2002, Brother Julian concluded a 12-year term as Province Leader of the Christian Brothers in NSW, ACT and Papua New Guinea. He was a member of the Leadership Team of the Christian Brothers, Oceania Province, and a consultant to the National Committee for Professional Standards - a committee of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia.

Brother Julian was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2003.

General Sir Peter John Cosgrove AC, MC, CNZM is a retired Australian Army officer and former Governor-General of Australia. He entered the Defence Force in 1965 and was the Chief of the Defence Force from 3 July 2002 to 3 July 2005, when he retired from full-time service.

During is time in public service, he has served on many boards and chaired the Council of the Australian War Memorial from 2007 to 2012.

He was appointed Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in November 2010 and was a member of the ACU Senate from 2010 to 2014 when he commenced as Governor-General of Australia (2014 - 2019).

BA (Hons) (Melb) BEc (ANU)

Mr Exell was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in November 2000 and appointed Acting Chancellor in 2014. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1998 to 2014.

Before joining the Catholic Archdiocese, Mr Exell was Deputy Managing Director of the Australian Trade Commission. Mr Exell has served on the National Board of Employment Education and Training, the Mercy Health and Aged Board and as a member of the School Council of Xavier College. He was made a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 1988.

A figure in public life for more than 30 years, the Hon John Fahey AC was Australian Catholic University's fourth Chancellor, appointed in 2014. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 2014 to 2020.

Mr Fahey was New South Wales Premier from 1992 to 1995 before entering federal politics as the Minister for Finance and Administration in the Howard government. He was instrumental in securing the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, acting as Chairman of the bid team.

In 2002, Mr Fahey was made a Companion of the Order of Australia for his work in the political arena and the facilitation of industry growth and industrial relations reform.

Mr Fahey passed at the age of 75. The Chapel at the North Sydney Campus was renamed the "John Fahey Memorial Chapel of our Lady Seat of Wisdom" in his honour.

As a distinguished executive and businessman, Mr O'Connell has built a successful career in insurance, accounting and risk management. Mr O'Connell has been a member of a number of boards and finance councils and was Chair of Mercy Health from 2008 to 2018.

Mr O'Connell was appointed as Pro-Chancellor in 2016 and as Acting Chancellor of ACU in 2020. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 2016 to 2022.

Cardinal Pell was a key figure of the Australian Catholic Church, the international Catholic Church and was fundamentally involved in the establishment of Australian Catholic University (ACU).Cardinal Pell was a member of the ACU Senate from 1990 to 1995.

Since the 1970s Cardinal Pell held more than 20 significant leadership positions in Catholic higher education in Australia.

Cardinal Pell was a member of the Amalgamation Implementation Committee which established ACU, was appointed as Foundation Pro-Chancellor and served as President of the ACU Corporation. He also served as Rector of Aquinas College in Ballarat, President of the Institute of Catholic Education in Victoria, Rector of Corpus Christi College, Clayton, Founder of the Melbourne session of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, Chancellor of the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and a Co-Founder of the Sydney campuses of the University of Notre Dame Australia.

In 2015, ACU conferred an honorary doctorate on Cardinal Pell for a lifetime of outstanding contribution to the Catholic Church in Australia and internationally, to ACU and the advancement of Catholic higher education in Australia, and to the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Cardinal Pell passed at the age of 81.

BA DipEd (Syd) CertRelFormation (St Louis) GradDipLangInEd (CSU)

Brother Julian McDonald CFC, AO was appointed Pro-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in 1995. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1992 to 2010, and served as Chancellor from 2000-2010.

In October 2002, Brother Julian concluded a 12-year term as Province Leader of the Christian Brothers in NSW, ACT and Papua New Guinea. He was a member of the Leadership Team of the Christian Brothers, Oceania Province, and a consultant to the National Committee for Professional Standards - a committee of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia.

Brother Julian was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2003.

BA (Hons) (Melb) BEc (ANU)

Mr Exell was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University in November 2000 and appointed Acting Chancellor in 2014. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1998 to 2014.

Before joining the Catholic Archdiocese, Mr Exell was Deputy Managing Director of the Australian Trade Commission. Mr Exell has served on the National Board of Employment Education and Training, the Mercy Health and Aged Board and as a member of the School Council of Xavier College. He was made a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 1988.

As a distinguished executive and businessman, Mr O'Connell has built a successful career in insurance, accounting and risk management.

Mr O'Connell has been a member of a number of boards and finance councils and was Chair of Mercy Health from 2008 to 2018.

Mr O'Connell was appointed as Pro-Chancellor in 2016 and as Acting Chancellor of ACU in 2020. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 2016 to 2022.

Professor Peter Drake AM, was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of ACU. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1991 to 1998.

Professor Drake graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1962 and completed his PhD studies at Australian National University in 1966. He was a Professor of Economics and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of New England, Armidale before his appointment as the founding Vice-Chancellor of ACU.

He was appointed a Member of The Order of Australia in 2003, in recognition of his contributions to education, especially through leadership of the Australian Catholic University, to the study of economics, and to overseas aid delivery.

Professor Peter Sheehan AO was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in 1998. He was a member of the ACU Senate from 1998 to 2008 and served as a Board member of Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee.

Professor Sheehan studied psychology at the University of Sydney in the late 1950s, became Chair of Psychology at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 1973 and stayed at UQ for some 25 years. He was Chair of the Australian Research Grants Committee, member of the Australian Research Council, member of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and President of the Australian Psychological Society.

Professor Sheehan was also a member of the Commonwealth Cinematograph Films Board of Review from 1982 to 1987, Deputy Chair from 1983 to 1985 and Chair from 1986-87.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1995 for his services to psychology and education and received the Centenary Medal from the Australian government in 2003.

BA (Melb) LLM (Melb)

Professor Craven, lawyer and academic, commenced as Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University in February 2008. He was a member of the ACU Senate until 2021.

Professor Craven served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategy and Planning) of Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, where he also held the position of Professor of Government and Constitutional Law, and as Executive Director of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy.

Professor Craven was earlier a Senior Lecturer and Reader in Law at the University of Melbourne and was Foundation Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He acted for three years as Crown Counsel to the Victorian Government, in which position he oversaw major legal policy reforms for the Victorian Government.

In addition to serving on an extensive number of panels and committees in the fields of education and law throughout his professional life (including a number of appointments as Chair), Professor Craven was also elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

In December 2015 Professor Craven was appointed to the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Gregory the Great, an ancient Order of Knighthood of the Holy See, by the Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher OP.