Please RSVP by Tuesday, 15 November 2022

Secretary General, AIU

Dr. Pankaj Mittal, a Fulbright scholar is the Secretary General of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the second female Secretary General of the Association in its 97 years. Prior to joining AIU, Dr Mittal had served the higher education sector, especially university education, for more than three decades at University Grants Commission, the apex regulator of higher education in India. She has a wide-ranging experience in Policy Planning and Management of Higher Education and has also served as the Vice Chancellor, BPS Women University, Haryana, India.

Dr. Pankaj Mittal achieved a PhD in Agricultural Statistics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. She is also Chief Commissioner (Guides) of Bharat Scouts and Guides.

Director General (ICAR) & Secretary (DARE)

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, a senior scientist of global repute, is the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE).

Dr. Pathak’s extensive work experience includes: Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (2009 – 2016); Professor, Discipline of Environmental Sciences, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (2013 – 2016). He completed his PhD in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India (1992), Post-doctorate Experiences at University of Essex, United Kingdom (1996 - 1997) and Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Germany (2004 - 2005).

Former Director, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India

Visiting Professor, Civil Engineering Department Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India

Dr. Sharad K Jain is an experienced Scientist with a demonstrated history of working in Research and Development within the water sector. Highly skilled in Mathematical Modelling; Systems Analysis; Water and Environment; Numerical Simulation; and Water Governance, Dr Jain served as Director of the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India from 2017 – 2020.

Dr. Jain has published more than 280 technical papers and has co-authored five books.

Dr. Jain was the Chairman of the Expert Appraisal Committee (River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects), Min. of Env. & Forests; and is Member - Project Appraisal & Monitoring Comm. (Hydrol. and Cryosphere), Ministry of Earth Sc.; and Member of many Indian national committees on water resources.

Chief Operating Officer ICICI Foundation

IGBC Fellow

Mr Anuj Agarwal has worked in the financial sector for almost three decades. Before taking up the role of Chief Operating Officer at ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, he managed the responsibility of Infrastructure Management at ICICI Bank in his previous role before taking the role of Chief Operating Officer at ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.

Mr Agarwal led a ‘committed and passionate team that worked on his concept of ‘Sustainability is Profitable.’ The various initiatives taken in infrastructure management not only helped the cause of Go Green, but also contributed significantly to the organization's bottom line. Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), in recognition of the efforts of Mr. Anuj Agarwal, awarded him the prestigious ‘IGBC Fellow’ in 2017.

South Australian Water Ambassador

The Hon Karlene Maywald is currently the South Australian Water Ambassador. 

Her previous roles include South Australian Minister for Water Security and the River Murray, Chair of the Australian National Water Commission and Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council Member.

Karlene is currently Managing Director of Maywald Consultants and holds a portfolio of Board positions including Chair of WaterAid Australia, Chair of the Peter Cullen Environment and Water Trust.

She is also a Director of WaterAid International and the Australian Water Association.

Award winning journalist & panel moderator

Smita Sharma is an independent multimedia journalist with nearly two decades of experience. She is a Visiting Faculty at Kautilya School of Public Policy where she teaches Media and Communication as a Policy Tool. She has worked with leading Indian newsrooms DD News, IBN7/CNN-IBN, India Today/Aajtak, TV9 Bharatvarsh , ETV Bharat and India Ahead in the past in senior editorial roles leading their Foreign Policy coverage and anchoring prime time shows. 

She was nominated to the Edward R Murrow IVLP to US (2008), John Doherty Journalism Fellowship to Australia (2010) and Advanced Security Course at DKI-APCSS in Hawaii (2016). 

She was a delegate at the inaugural Australia India Dialogue in 2011 and at the first Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue under the AIYD banner held in Australia this year. 

A distinguished academic leader and an experienced Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glover's esteemed career includes significant expertise and experience at the most senior levels of university management and substantial business leadership credentials. He has also served on the boards of a range of organisations and several state and national centres covering areas such as health and medical research, energy, mineral exploration, and telecommunications.

Be inspired by Professor Glover and Western's mission of advancing the SDGs along with potential areas of partnership for Australia and India.

Ms Storey commenced as Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to India in December 2021. She is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, most recently serving as Minister-Counsellor (Congressional Liaison) at Australia’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Ms Storey has been posted earlier as Counsellor (Political-Economic), Australian Embassy, Bangkok (2010-13); First Secretary, Australian Mission to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg (2004-7) and Third (later Second) Secretary, Australian High Commission, Port Moresby (1998-2001). Ms Storey was a member of the Bougainville Truce Monitoring Group (1997).

Ms Storey has completed courses at Harvard Business School (Organizational Leadership) and Harvard Kennedy School (Leadership in Crises). She holds a Master’s Degree in Arts (Foreign Affairs and Trade) from Monash University and Bachelor’s Degrees in Law (Hons.) and Arts (Hons.) from the University of Melbourne.

Out of more than 1400 institutions, Western Sydney University is ranked #1 in the world for its social, ecological, and economic impact in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings.

In 2017 Western signed the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Higher Education Commitment joining an innovative group of Australian and New Zealand universities. Western has advanced the SDGs ‘through their teaching to equip the next generation of leaders, innovators and thinkers to understand the global challenges facing the world and the role they can play in rising to meet these challenges’.

11:30 am – Guest Registration

11:45 am - Lunch

12:30 pm - Forum Commences

                     Welcome Address by Ms. Sarah Storey

                     Keynote by Professor Barney Glover AO

                     Panel Discussion: The impact of partnerships in advancing the SDGs

2:15 pm –   Forum Concludes

At Western Sydney University, we’re here to help students discover their unique strengths. Ranked in the top 2% of unis globally (Times Higher Education World Rankings), we are globally focused, research-led and committed to making a positive impact. This has been recently recognised by our #1 Ranking for UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2022.  

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