Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales today announced that Steven Lowy is the new President of the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Steven was appointed to the AGNSW Board in 2006.

Mr Capon said Mr Lowy represented a new generation of Australian corporate leaders and that the Gallery would benefit from his business experience both in Australia and internationally.

Mr Lowy is Group Managing Director of the Westfield Group, Australia’s seventh largest company and the largest listed retail property group in the world with a market capitalisation of more than $40 billion.

“He will bring a fresh perspective to the role and his experience at running one of Australia’s largest and most successful global companies will help maintain the Gallery’s reputation as one of the country’s leading cultural institutions,” Mr Capon said.

Mr Lowy said he was honoured to be appointed to the role as President and to be working with a talented group of Trustees and staff of the Gallery.

“The issues involved with the long-term management and strategic direction of the Gallery are not dissimilar to those faced by any large corporation,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to making a contribution to the development of that long-term strategy.”

In addition to his corporate activities, Mr Lowy is an active contributor to a range of community programs and organisations involved in medical research and public policy.

A graduate in 1984 with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of New South Wales, he attained the Rod Sindon Memorial Prize for his Honours Year Thesis in Organisational Behaviour.

Before joining Westfield in 1987, Steven worked in investment banking at First Boston Corporation (now Credit Suisse First Boston) in New York.

Steven joined the Board of the Westfield Group in 1989 and continues to serve on its Board today as Group Managing Director.

In 1994 Steven became a founding Board Member of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and continues to serve on the board today.

In addition to his other community activities, Steven has been a long-term supporter of the United Israel Appeal, a refugee relief program.

Since it was established in April 2003, Steven has been a director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent international policy think tank based in Sydney. The Institute’s objective is to generate new ideas and dialogue on international developments and Australia’s role in the world.

In 2004, Steven was appointed to the Prime Minister’s Business-Government Advisory Group on National Security.

For further information please contact
Susanne Briggs
Art Gallery of New South Wales
(02) 9225 1791 or 0412 268 320
susanneb@ag.nsw.gov.au