Brendan Nelson

Dr Brendan Nelson AO became president of Boeing in Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific in February 2020. Dr Nelson is also chair of Boeing Australia Holdings and the company’s senior leader for its 3800 employees working across commercial airplane manufacturing, defence systems, services, research & development, and autonomous systems.

Prior to Boeing, Dr Nelson was a director of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra from December 2012 to December 2019. He was chair of the Council of the Australian War Memorial from April to November 2022.

Dr Nelson began his career in 1985 as a medical practitioner before going on to lead the Australian Medical Association. In 1996, he was elected to the Federal Parliament of Australia serving as Minister for Education, Science and Training and then as Minister for Defence. He was elected leader of Australia’s Liberal Party in 2007 and led the Opposition until 2008. He retired from politics in October 2009 and later served as Australia’s ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union and NATO until 2012.

In 2016, Dr Nelson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the community and the parliament of Australia, his diplomacy, and his cultural leadership.