George Pappas AO became the fourth Chancellor of Victoria University on 1 January 2010. He retired as Chancellor on 31 December 2019.
In January 2021, former Premier of Victoria, The Honourable Steve Bracks AC assumed the role of Chancellor. In the interim, our two deputy Chancellors, Gaye Hamilton and Wayne Kayler-Thomson, shared the role during 2020.
George was born in Rhodes, Greece and emigrated to Australia in 1952. He has a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from Monash University (1968) and an MBA, with Distinction, from Harvard Business School (1971).
After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1971, George joined the international management consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Boston, later moving to Tokyo.
He returned to Australia and co-founded Pappas Carter Evans and Koop (PCEK) in 1979. Over the next ten years, PCEK became the leading Australian management consultancy providing strategic advice to the top management of our largest companies. Following BCG's acquisition of PCEK in 1990, George became Managing Partner of BCG's Australasian offices and a member of BCG's worldwide Executive Committee. George retired from BCG in 2002.
Since then George has undertaken several assignments for State and Federal governments, including serving as the Under Secretary of the Victorian Premier's Department from 2003 to 2005 and leading the Audit of the Federal Defence Budget in 2008, in which year he was a participant in the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit.
George was appointed Chairman of the Committee for Melbourne in 2005 and retired after eight years as Chairman at the Committee's Annual General Meeting in November 2013. During his tenure, he led a group whose members comprise a cross section of the city's most influential companies and institutions and personally led the Committee's effort to support new and innovative industry development, as well as the promotion of Melbourne's Higher Education sector.
George has continued to mentor younger people in business and government. For example, as Chairman of Energy Matters Pty Ltd (2008-2014), George led and mentored a group of young entrepreneurs who established one of Australia's leading suppliers and installers of clean energy products.
George has served on a variety of public and private governance bodies. He has chaired the Federal Government's Defence Strategic Reform Advisory Board (2009-2012). He has been Chair of the Advisory Board of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (now the Hudson Institute). Additionally, for Monash University, he has been a member of the Dean’s Advisory Boards for the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Business. He is a recipient of the Monash Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
George has also been involved with local and professional sporting organisations. He served as Commodore of the Point Leo Boat Club from 2003 to 2010. He was a board member of the Western Bulldogs Football Club from 2001 to 2013, and was made a life member of the club in recognition of his many years of service.
In 2015, George was honoured by the Australian residents from the Greek island of Kastellorizio (his mother’s birthplace), by being named Kastellorizian of The Year. The following year, George received the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition for his contributions to business, higher education and medical research.
George and his wife Jillian have been married for 49 years and have four daughters and twelve grandchildren.
