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Board of Directors

Chris Hancock AM - AARNet CEO

Mr Chris Hancock AM

Chief Executive Officer, AARNet

Chris Hancock is Chief Executive Officer of AARNet. Chris came to the role in 2004 with 25 years of executive leadership experience, including 15 years in the media and telecommunications sectors.

As CEO, Chris has overseen extraordinary growth. Under his leadership, AARNet has extended the nation’s advanced network infrastructure and developed a suite of leading-edge technologies and solutions, enabling Australia’s participation on the world stage for research, science, education and innovation. Today, AARNet serves Australian universities and the CSIRO, as well as many health and research organisations, schools, vocational training institutions, cultural organisations and specialist content providers.

Chris has an Executive MBA from the University of New South Wales.

Prior to joining AARNet, he held several senior executive positions at the Seven Television Network, Vodafone and Optus. At Optus, Chris was Managing Director of Optus Business and an integral member of the senior executive team that completed the IPO and subsequent sale of Optus to Singtel.

Chris is a past Chair of the Internet Industry Association and a member of the Global REN CEOs Forum and Cyber Security Group. He is a director of the board of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue and a past director of the boards of the New England Girls’ School, the Smart Services CRC and the Starlight Foundation.

In January 2021, Chris was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to education and online research networks, and to Australia-USA relations.

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