The Honourable Trish White is Chair of the University of South Australia Business School Advisory Board. She is an experienced business executive, engineer and board director. Her contribution to this university and to the state of South Australia has extended over 25 years.
Her early career was varied – following graduation as an electrical and electronics engineer in Queensland in 1985, she worked in the telecommunications industry at a time of significant expansion of broadcasting services across Australia. With that work she gained an early understanding of the profound impact an engineer could have on people’s quality of life in regional Australia. She then moved to Canberra to manage other national infrastructure projects and then later settled in Adelaide to work in applied research with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (now DST Group). It was at this point that Trish began her association with our University, volunteering on various boards and committees across the disciplines.
In 1994 Ms White was elected as the Member for Taylor in the South Australian Parliament. During a 15-year political career, she served as a senior cabinet minister in portfolios including transport, infrastructure, urban development & planning, science and education. She was headhunted from Parliament in 2010 to work as an executive for WorleyParsons Ltd in the global resources and energy industries. Her knowledge of technology and experience in business, combined with her intimate understanding of both public and private sectors, are part of the value she brings to her roles. Ms White believes strongly in the role our University has played in opening up opportunities for education to a broad cross-section of the community.
Today she works as an executive director of business advisory firm Slingsby Taylor and serves on the boards of companies in the transport, logistics, insurance, property, manufacturing and university sectors. She has served on the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce and specialises in helping companies modernise their business. She is also National President and Board Chair of Engineers Australia.
