Executive Board of Management (EBM)
Mr Russell Taylor commenced a five-year term as Chief Executive Officer (Principal) at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in late March 2009. Russell (Russ) Taylor was born and raised in Millers Point, an inner city waterfront suburb of Sydney which today forms part of the tourist precinct area now more commonly known as ‘The Rocks’. Mr Taylor proudly identifies as a Kamilaroi man with family connection to La Perouse in Sydney and to traditional country in the New England area of New South Wales. Mr Taylor most recently held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office. His career includes more than 15 years in various Senior Executive Service positions including terms with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the Australian Development Commission and previously as Principal at AIATSIS (1997 – 2003). Mr Taylor’s career also includes 20 years in the banking financial sector.
Dr Luke Taylor (Deputy Principal) maintains broad oversight of the work of the Research program and Aboriginal Studies Press and is a member of the Institute’s senior executive. He is an anthropologist who specialises in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and has written a number of books on Aboriginal art including Seeing the Inside: Bark Painting in Western Arnhem Land (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996), Painting the Land Story (National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 1999), and is co-editor with Jon Altman of Marketing Aboriginal Art in the 1990s (Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1990). Dr Taylor produced the first edition of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Artists Database (electronically published by Discovery Media). Recently he was joint editor of The Power of Knowledge, The Resonance of Tradition (Aboriginal Studies press 2005). Previously, Dr Taylor was Curator and then Senior Curator in the Gallery of Aboriginal Australia at the National Museum of Australia for ten years from 1990 to 2000. During the construction phase of the Museum, he was project manager for development of the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander exhibits. He is also currently Adjunct Professor with the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research at the Australian National University where he teaches about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and supervises a number of students.
Rhonda Black (Director, ASP) has spent most of her working life in publishing. For many years she was the Editorial/Production Director at Allen & Unwin (A&U), a large independent publisher. Responsible for producing 200 new titles a year and publishing a small list of academic and general books, she was later part of a management buy-out of the company. Since leaving A&U in 1993 she has been a publishing consultant whose clients include a variety of publishers, the Literature Board of the Australia Council and the Australian Publishers Association. She has undertaken publicity and marketing, worked as a manuscript assessor, written for publication, and produced and taught writing and publishing-related courses at Macquarie University and Sydney University’s Centre for Continuing Education. As the Director of Aboriginal Studies Press, she is committed to fostering the work of new and established writers in Indigenous Studies.
Jeff Hobson is Director (Chief Finance Officer) Corporate Services.
Jeff has over 30 years experience in public sector financial management, is a Fellow of CPA Australia and holds degrees in Master of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts (Accounting). He also holds Diplomas in Computer Programming and HR. Jeff is also a Justice of the Peace in the ACT.
Di Hosking (Director, Audiovisual Archives) joined AIATSIS in 1987 and has been the Director of Audiovisual Archives since 1998. Ms Hosking’s previous roles include Collection Manager, Recorded Sound (Linguistics and Oral History) and Linguistics Research Fellow. She has undertaken research on the Wiradjuri language and has been a strong advocate for Indigenous languages for two decades. For many years, Ms Hosking has been concerned with the digitisation of and electronic access to the Institute’s audiovisual collections in a culturally appropriate manner. She has represented AIATSIS in a number of forums including membership of the Australian Research Council Review of Applied Linguistics Committee, the NSW Aboriginal Languages Research and Resource Centre Advisory Committee and is a current member of the Australian Memory of the World Committee. Ms Hosking’s interests include Australian Indigenous and Asian languages; and the dialogue between the various stakeholders in Indigenous knowledge, from the Ministerial level to the Indigenous community/individual level.
Dr Lisa Strelein (Director Research and Director, NTRU) is a Research Fellow and Manager of the Native Title Research Unit at AIATSIS. Lisa was awarded a PhD, for her thesis examining Indigenous sovereignty and the common law, from the ANU Research School of Social Sciences in 1998. Lisa’s research and publications have focused on conceptualising the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state, Indigenous sovereignty and self determination and the role of the courts in defining native title rights. While the majority of Lisa’s work appears in academic journals and books, such as the recent collaboration Treaty, she also writes for a wide variety of audiences and has worked with teams in creating a catalogue for a native title art exhibition and an award winning multi-media package on native title. Lisa maintains strong networks within the native title system, conducting research projects in partnership with or in response to the needs of native title representative bodies and claimants. Lisa is also the convenor of the annual National Native Title Conference.
Rod Stroud (Director, Library) and has worked in the Library since 2001. As Client Services Manager, he was involved with the Family History Unit and information services to the public. He has put a strong emphasis on improving the Library's IT capability and its web presence. He is particularly interested in improving access for remote clients and building stronger links amongst record-holding organisations and ATSILIRN - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Research Network. Previously, Rod had worked since 1975 in the National Library of Australia, mainly in information services, concentrating on family history and later with online services and the web.