Cathy Foley
Order9th
OfficeChief Scientist of Australia
Term start1 January 2021
Term end31 December 2024
PredecessorAlan Finkel
SuccessorTony Haymet
Birth nameCatherine Patricia Foley
Birth date10 October 1957 (age 68)
Birth placeDarlinghurst, Australia
ProfessionPhysicist, administrator
Cathy Foley
FieldPhysics
Work institutionCSIRO
Alma materMacquarie University
Thesis year1984
Doctoral advisorTrevor Tansley
Known forcomprehension of superconducting materials

Catherine Patricia Foley (born 10 October 1957) is an Australian physicist. She was the Chief Scientist of Australia from January 2021 to December 2024,[1][2][3] before which she had been the chief scientist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) since August 2018.[4]

Foley's research is in solid-state physics and its applications in superconductivity, combining material science, quantum physics, and research translation.[5] In addition to her research science, she has also contributed significantly to the advancement of women in physics, and to professional scientific organisations.[6]

Foley and her group at CSIRO have performed pioneering work on SQUID systems for geomagnetic exploration of minerals, which were transitioned to industry and resulted in the discovery of mineral ores worth many billions of dollars.[7] Upon Foley's appointment as Chief Scientist, the CSIRO stated: "Among her many achievements, her team’s breakthrough work in ‘SQUID’ systems for mineral exploration were commercialised in LANDTEM technology, which has led to mineral discoveries worth more than $6 billion."[4]

Early life and education

Catherine Patricia Foley was born on 10 October 1957[8] in Darlinghurst.[9][page needed]

Catherine was a high school student at Santa Sabina College, Strathfield. She then attended Macquarie University for her undergraduate degrees, studying for Diploma of Education in high school physics (1979) and a Bachelor of Science majoring in physics (1980). She remained at Macquarie to do a PhD in physics (1984) investigating indium nitride, under the supervision of Trevor Tansley. She also spent six months on a scholarship as a research fellow, the Department of Electrical Engineering, at Oregon State University, US, in Corvallis while writing up her PhD.[8]

Career

In December 2024, she was appointed to the Australian Museum Trust.[10]

CSIRO

Foley joined CSIRO in 1985 as a national research fellow and was promoted to senior research scientist in 1991, principal research scientist in 1996, senior principal research scientist in 2000, and chief research scientist in 2008.[8][11][12] Dr Foley was also previously the deputy director of CSIRO's manufacturing business unit, as well as chief of the Division of Materials Science and Engineering in 2011 CSIRO's Materials Science and Engineering division.[13]

Foley joined the editorial board of the physics journal Superconductor Science and Technology in 2003[8] and subsequently became its editor-in-chief.[14][15]

Following her departure from the role of Chief Scientist, Foley was appointed to the board of the CSIRO.[16]

Office of the Chief Scientist

On 1 January 2021, Foley replaced Alan Finkel as Chief Scientist of Australia.[1] She has stated as priorities: development of a national Open Access strategy, supporting emerging technologies (including establishing a working group for quantum technologies), strengthening the role of the National Science & Technology Council in advising the Government, and increasing understanding of scientific capability across Australian public service.[17]

On 31 January 2024, she left this role and later took up a position on the board of the CSIRO.[3]

Research

Foley made significant contributions to the comprehension of superconducting materials and to the evolution of devices that use superconductors to detect magnetic fields and locate deposits of minerals.[18][19]

At Macquarie University, Foley and Tansley authored a series of highly regarded papers on indium nitride semiconductor films.[20][21][22][23] The work of Tansley and Dr Foley is considered central to the development of semiconductor lasers in the blue-green region of the spectrum.

Subsequently, her work at CSIRO led to the development of high-temperature superconducting Josephson junctions used in high-sensitivity magnetic field detectors used in applications such as underground deep mineral deposit detection.[24]

Awards and accomplishments

Foley's awards include the 2015 Australian Academy of Science's Clunies-Ross Award, the 2013 Premier's Award for Woman of the Year, and in 2011 the AUSIMM MIOTA prize.[25] Preceding this award, she was a fellow of the Institute of Physics in the UK, past president of the Australian Institute of Physics, and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ASTE).[26] She has been president of Science and Technology Australia, where she represented 68,000 Australian scientists and technologists.[26]

Foley was awarded a public service medal on Australia Day in 2003 and in the same year won the Eureka Prize for the promotion of science.[27] She sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Australia's Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies.[28]

In May 2020, Foley was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science[29] and in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to research science, to the advancement of women in physics, and to professional scientific organisations".[30]

References

  1. ^ McCulloch, Daniel (9 November 2020). "Cathy Foley appointed next chief scientist". Canberra Times. Archived 13 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. ^ Smith, Belinda (9 November 2020). "Physicist Cathy Foley appointed Australia's next chief scientist". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived 9 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Dr Cathy Foley ends term as Australia's Chief Scientist". 9 January 2025. Archived 28 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  4. ^ Marshall, Larry (9 January 2020). "CSIRO Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley to be next Australian Chief Scientist". CSIRO. Archived 28 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  5. ^ "Cathy Foley". www.science.org.au. Archived 21 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  6. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours for five Academy Fellows | Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. 8 June 2020. Archived 28 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-08-17. Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM FAA FTSE is recognised for distinguished service to research science, to the advancement of women in physics and to professional scientific organisations. Dr Foley was elected a Fellow of the Academy this year.
  7. ^ "ABC Science news article on Cathy Foley, CSIRO". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  8. ^ Ward, Colin (2013-07-17). "Catherine Patricia (Cathy) Foley". CSIROpedia. Archived 21 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  9. ^ Who's Who in Australia. ConnectWeb. 2020.
  10. ^ Minister for the Arts (10 December 2024). "New leadership at NSW Cultural Institutions" (Ministerial media release). NSW Government. Archived 10 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Cathy Foley". Science and Technology Australia. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  12. ^ "Research Scientist Classification". NSW Public Service Commission. 2020-10-28. Archived 4 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  13. ^ CSIRO. "Physicist appointed as CSIRO Chief Scientist". www.csiro.au. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  14. ^ "Editor-in-Chief of Superconductor Science and Technology awarded IEEE Award". IOP Publishing. 2014-07-17. Archived 1 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  15. ^ "Editorial Board - Superconductor Science and Technology". iopscience.iop.org. IOPscience. Archived 6 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  16. ^ "Dr Cathy Foley joins CSIRO Board". CSIRO. 3 January 2025. Archived 28 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Chief Scientist Workplan". www.chiefscientist.gov.au. Archived 16 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  18. ^ Foley, Cathy. "Director's Colloquium - How a single grain boundary found billions of dollars of mineral deposits: An overview of the use of SQUIDs for mineral exploration". physics.anu.edu.au. Archived 25 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  19. ^ "Dr Cathy Foley, Chief Scientist of CSIRO". RDA. 2020-02-03. Archived 19 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  20. ^ Tansley, T. L. & Foley, C. P. (1986). "Optical band gap of indium nitride". Journal of Applied Physics. 59 (9): 3241–3244. AIP Publishing. Bibcode:1986JAP....59.3241T. doi:10.1063/1.336906. ISSN 0021-8979
  21. ^ Tansley, T.L. & Foley, C.P. (1984). "Electron mobility in indium nitride". Electronics Letters. 20 (25–26): 1066–1068. Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Bibcode:1984ElL....20.1066T. doi:10.1049/el:19840729. ISSN 0013-5194
  22. ^ Foley, C. P. & Tansley, T. L. (1986-01-15). "Pseudopotential band structure of indium nitride". Physical Review B. 33 (2): 1430–1433. American Physical Society (APS). Bibcode:1986PhRvB..33.1430F. doi:10.1103/physrevb.33.1430. ISSN 0163-1829. PMID 9938421
  23. ^ Tansley, T. L. & Foley, C. P. (1986-09-15). "Infrared absorption in indium nitride". Journal of Applied Physics. 60 (6): 2092–2095. AIP Publishing. Bibcode:1986JAP....60.2092T. doi:10.1063/1.337213. ISSN 0021-8979
  24. ^ "Dr Cathy Foley". www.chiefscientist.gov.au. Archived 5 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  25. ^ "Women NSW - 2013 Women of the Year Awards". Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  26. ^ "Bio - Dr Cathy Foley". Questacon. Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  27. ^ "2000 - 2009 Eureka Prize winners". Australian Museum
  28. ^ "Dr Foley biography". Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies. Archived 9 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Cathy Foley". Australian Academy of Science. Archived 21 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  30. ^ "Dr Catherine Patricia Foley PSM". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived 7 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-06-12.