Gaye McMath commenced as ECU’s sixth Chancellor on 27 August 2024. A member of ECU Council since 2022, and Chair of the University’s Quality Audit and Risk Committee, Gaye has extensive executive and governance experience and a comprehensive knowledge of the tertiary education sector. Her more than four-decade long career has seen her serve in a range of senior executive roles, including 23 years in the mining and resources sector and 15 years working in higher and international education. She is also an experienced non-executive director, having held board positions in a broad range of entities including listed companies, government trading enterprises and not-for-profit organisations.

In her 12 years as the Chief Operating Officer at the University of Western Australia, Gaye was involved in the development of UWA’s college row — a significant and successful project for the WA Minister for Education that contributed to all five WA universities, and resulted in 2000 PBSA being built in the city.

She contributed to the development of an international education strategy for WA, and was a board member of StudyPerth, working closely with all universities, the TAFE sector and private education providers. She also held the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor Resources and CFO at Murdoch University for three years.

Gaye holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School. She has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, is a Fellow of CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a recipient of the AICD PWC NFP award for good governance in the not-for-profit sector.