Ziggy Switkowski

Biography

Zygmunt Edward "Ziggy" Switkowski, AO (born 1948), is a Polish Australian business executive and nuclear physicist. His most public role was as the chief executive officer of Australia's largest telecommunications company Telstra from 1999 to 2004. During his tenure, he oversaw the privatisation of the then government-owned corporation through a series of public tranche sales (known as the T1, T2 and T3 sales). Currently, he is the chairman of both NBN Co and Suncorp, a director of Healthscope, Oil Search and Tabcorp and the Chancellor of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University). Switkowski was born in Germany in 1948 to Polish parents. His family migrated to Australia when he was one year old and settled in Melbourne. He attended St Bernard's College in Essendon (a suburb of Melbourne), and earned an bachelor's degree in science and a doctorate in nuclear physics (at 24 years old) from the University of Melbourne. He then completed six years of postdoctoral research and the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School—graduating in 1993.

Research Interest

General insurance Banking Life insurance Superannuation Wealth management