Former Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley joins Sydney Quantum Academy as new Executive Chair

SQA is pleased to announce that Australia’s former Chief Scientist and globally recognised physicist, Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM, has commenced as the new Chair of SQA’s Executive Board.

Dr Foley brings a wealth of experience and decades of STEM leadership to the appointment, where she will guide SQA in the next chapter building a quantum-ready Australia through its globally recognised training and engagement programs.  

Dr Foley’s appointment comes at a critical time for Australia’s quantum workforce, which ranks among the top five globally but still requires a significant pool of future talent to realise the CSIRO’s latest modelling, which predicts 19,400 jobs by 2045 in a projected $6 billion industry.

“Since it first launched in 2019, SQA has demonstrated a gravitational pull for emerging quantum talent, industry partners and quantum experts alike,” she said.

“SQA plays a pivotal role in preparing the next generation of Australia’s quantum workforce and boosting our quantum sovereign capability – as well as fostering greater diversity in this pipeline, in line with Theme 3 of Australia’s National Quantum Strategy.   

“I’m delighted to lead SQA’s Executive Board as we continue to capitalise on this momentum and power Australia’s future quantum economy with the best and brightest, job-ready graduates.”

As Dr Foley recently wrote for InnovationAus.com, for Australia to be more than a “clever laboratory at the edge of the world”, significant and sustained public investment and an ongoing commitment to quantum – backed by a cohesive national policy – are critical considerations.

“Quantum cannot be treated as a temporary priority or a fashionable line item. It must remain embedded across government programs – in research funding, industry policy, infrastructure planning, skills development and international engagement,” she wrote.

“Stop-start funding, short-term pilot programs and fragmented responsibility will undermine the very momentum [Australia has] worked so hard to build.”

SQA Director, Professor Peter Turner added:

“Dr Cathy Foley’s impressive record in not only quantum research but also science advocacy will help enrich SQA’s ambitious agenda as we set the benchmark for preparing the next generation of quantum innovators.

“We are deeply grateful to our foundational Executive Board and in particular our outgoing Chair, Professor Brian Boyle, for their dedication and strategic guidance over our first term of operations. Their visionary leadership has helped establish SQA as key contributor to Australia’s quantum ecosystem, and hundreds of emerging quantum careers are better off thanks to their generous support.”  

Dr Cathy Foley served as Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist from January 2021 to December 2024, leading major national initiatives in science, technology and innovation. A former Executive Officer of the National Science and Technology Council, Dr Foley previously spent decades at CSIRO where she was appointed Chief Scientist in 2018 and continues to serve on their Board.

Her work on superconducting electronics and nitride semiconductors is internationally acclaimed, as are her many decades of leadership in STEM – acknowledged in honours including the Order of Australia, the Public Service Medal and election to the Australian Academy of Science.