Our People
CASS is an acronym for:
‘Contributing to Australian Scholarship and Science’.
david abraham am
executive director & chair
As well as being a Director of CASS, David is Chairman of four syndicates of Chief Executive Officers. He was formerly Chairman of the Board at The Knox School Limited and Sirius Telecommunications Limited, Chairman of the Australian Health Service Alliance Limited, Thirteenth Beach Golf Links Limited, The Liberty Group (County Court of Victoria), and Deputy Chair of Generation Victoria. He was the Facilitator on the Melbourne City Link Project, the Probity Adviser for the Melbourne Cricket Ground redevelopment, Due Diligence Adviser to the Vice Chancellor at The University of Melbourne and Commissioner investigating governance at Nillimbuk Council. David was involved in the Education sector as a Director of Taylors Schools, Study Group International, Ruyton Girls School and as Chair of the Council at Ormond College, The University of Melbourne. He was Chair of the Interim Board of Directors of Human Variome Project International Limited. David is a lawyer and was formerly Managing Partner at a city legal firm. David became a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the community through health and medical research, education, and corporate governance organisations.
david aitken
executive director & secretary
David has worked in the education sector with the Taylors Schools Group and Study Group Australia; in financial services (chartered accountancy); and stockbroking over the past 45 years. He has also consulted on the design, development and construction of specialist education and student residential facilities in Australia and New Zealand for a 20 year period. Besides being a Director of CASS, David was a Foundation Director of The Knox School Limited (until 2007) and he has sat on a number of private and public company Boards.
Tamara Abraham
grants manager & administrator
Tamara is a graduate of the University of Melbourne having completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Community Directors, and holds a Certified Associate in Project Management. She has over a decade of experience working in the not for profit sector with over 10 years of experience in independent alternative dispute resolution at the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV) and more recently with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), part of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). At EWOV she was involved in all aspects of the dispute resolution process, from initial customer contact through to the resolution of complex, high-risk complaints. Whilst at the AER she redesigned and managed the organisation’s reporting of the national retail energy market performance from collection through to publication. She currently sits on the Board of Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre.
peter wade
non executive director
Peter was a founding Director of PhillipsKPA Pty. Ltd. and its predecessor, KPA Consulting, until the end of 2016. He is one of Australia’s most respected experts in the operation of universities and in particular, in financial and corporate management. Peter is actively engaged in the governance and management of major educational and private sector corporations. In May 2012, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Monash University. Before joining KPMG and then KPA consulting, Peter was General Manager of Monash University for 15 years, overseeing many of Monash’s financial, international and commercial initiatives. He has also been Deputy Head of the Treasury of Victoria and Deputy Director-General (Finance) of Transport. Peter was for many years Chair of Open Universities Australia and a Director of The Knox School Limited.
hugh collins
non executive director
Dr Collins is a graduate of the University of Western Australia and of Harvard University, where he was a Frank Knox Fellow. From 1994 until his retirement in 2008 Dr Collins was Master of Ormond College and Professorial Fellow in Political Science, University of Melbourne. Previously, he held academic positions in Political Science at the Australian National University and Murdoch University, WA; with visiting appointments at Carleton University, Ottawa, the University of Virginia, and St Antony’s College, Oxford. He was Academic-in-Residence in the Department of Foreign Affairs, 1974-1975, and a Consultant to the Western Australian “WA Inc” Royal Commission, 1992. From 2009 to 2015, he was a member of The Geelong College Council. Dr Collins joined the Board of The CASS Foundation in July 2008.
