UNSW appoints Lucy Turnbull AO as Adjunct Professor

The UNSW announces the appointment of Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, Lucy Turnbull AO as Adjunct Professor at the University’s Faculty of Built Environment.

Dean of the Faculty, Professor Helen Lochhead announced Turnbull’s appointment at Engaging Women in Built Environment, a UNSW event connecting academics with industry and encouraging women to take up leadership roles across architecture, design, planning and development.

An MBA graduate from UNSW’s Australian Graduate School of Management, Turnbull was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney in 2003-4. She chaired the Committee for Sydney from 2012 to 2015 before taking up her current role as Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, which was created by the NSW state government to deliver effective metropolitan planning for the Greater Sydney Region.

Observing that it was a critical time for urban design, architecture and planning in Sydney, Turnbull said she looked forward to the opportunity to work with UNSW students designing the future of their city. In her UNSW position, which will be concurrent with her Greater Sydney Commission role, she will present guest lectures to planning, urban design and urban renewal students and develop interdisciplinary education and research opportunities across the University.

A self-described urbanist, businesswoman and philanthropist with a longstanding interest in cities and technological and social innovation, Turnbull became an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 for distinguished service to the community, local government and business, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Business by UNSW in 2012. Turnbull has also authored ‘Sydney: A Biography of a City’ published by Random House Australia in 1999.