2025 Pearcey Hall of Fame
Prof David Skellern AO and Dr Cathy Foley were inducted into the 2025 Pearcey Hall of Fame at the Pearcey National Awards event. The presentations were part of the 70th anniversary of the University of Melbourne School of Computing and Information Systems celebration evening held at Melbourne Connect on 21 November 2025.
Prof David Skellern AO
(see 2025 Pearcey Medal)
Dr Cathy Foley AO
Dr Catherine Patricia Foley AO PSM FTSE is a renowned Australian physicist. She was the Chief Scientist of Australia from January 2021 to December 2024. Dr Foley had a long career at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, where she was appointed as the agency’s Chief Scientist in August 2018. Dr Foley's research is in solid-state physics and its applications in superconductivity, combining material science, quantum physics, and research translation. In addition to her research science, she has also contributed significantly to the advancement of women in physics, and to professional scientific organisations.
Dr Foley made significant contributions to the understanding of nitride semiconductors and superconducting electronics during her time at CSIRO. Dr Foley and her team’s most successful commercial application was the LANDTEM sensor system. The software associated with this was based on breakthrough pioneering work on superconducting quantum interference systems (SQUID) for geomagnetic mineral exploration. SQUID was used to locate valuable deposits of minerals deep underground, such as nickel sulphide, silver and gold, adopted by BHP and reportedly worth more than $A6 Billion.
Dr Foley was admitted as a Fellow to the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (ATSE) in 2008, awarded the IEEE award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the field of Applied Superconductivity 2014, Clunies Ross Medal of ATSE in 2015, Australian Institute of Physics Medal for Outstanding Service to Physics in 2016, Fellow Australian Academy of Science (AAS) in 2020, Officer in the Order of Australia for service to research science and the advancement of women in physics in 2020.
Dr Foley’s previous roles include: member Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, President of the Australian Institute of Physics, President of Science and Technology Australia, Council member for Questacon.
Dr Foley is committed to supporting the development of the Australian quantum industry and helping Australia realise the transformative potential of emerging technologies and meet the climate challenge. She is an inspiration to women in STEM and focused strongly on equity and diversity in the science sector.
