Cathy Foley

Cathy Foley AO PSM FAA FTSE
9th Chief Scientist of Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 January 2021
Preceded by	Alan Finkel
Personal details
Born	Catherine Patricia Foley (1957-11-10) 10 November 1957 (age 67) Darlinghurst, Australia
Profession	Physicist, administrator
Alma mater	Macquarie University
Known for	comprehension of superconducting materials
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	CSIRO
Thesis	Indium nitride polycrystalline thin films  (1984)
Doctoral advisor	Trevor Tansley

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

Foley's research is in solid-state physics and its applications in superconductivity, combining material science, quantum physics, and research translation.^[4] In addition to her research science, she has also contributed significantly to the advancement of women in physics, and to professional scientific organisations.^[5]

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.^[6] "Her team is responsible for the development and commercialisation of LANDTEM which has led to the discovery of over $6B of mines worldwide".^[7]

Early life and education

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

She attended Macquarie University for her undergraduate degrees, studying a 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, department of electrical engineering, at Oregon State University, US, in Corvallis while writing up her PhD.^[8]

Career

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.^[10][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^[14] and subsequently became its editor in chief.^[15][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 of a working group for quantum technologies), strengthening the role of the National Science & Technology Council in advising Government, and increasing understanding of scientific capability across Australian public service.^[17]

Research

Foley made significant contributions for 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 lead 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, 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).^[7] She has been president of Science and Technology Australia, where she represented 68,000 Australian scientists and technologists.^[7]

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.^[26] She sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Australia's Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies.^[27]

In May 2020, Foley was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science^[28] 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".^[29]

References

1. McCulloch, Daniel (9 November 2020). "Cathy Foley appointed next chief scientist". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. 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 from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
3. CSIRO. "CSIRO Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley to be next Australian Chief Scientist". www.csiro.au. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
4. "Cathy Foley". www.science.org.au. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
5. "Queen's Birthday honours for five Academy Fellows | Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
6. "ABC article". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
7. "Bio - Dr Cathy Foley | Questacon - the National Science and Technology Centre". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
8. Ward, Colin (17 July 2013). "Cathy Patricia Foley". CSIROpedia. Archived from the original on 15 August 2015.
9. Who's Who in Australia. ConnectWeb. 2020.
10. "Catherine Patricia (Cathy) Foley". CSIROpedia. 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
11. "Cathy Foley". Science and Technology Australia. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
12. "Research Scientist Classification". NSW Public Service Commission. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
13. CSIRO. "Physicist appointed as CSIRO Chief Scientist". www.csiro.au. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
14. "Catherine Patricia (Cathy) Foley". CSIROpedia. 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
15. "Editor-in-Chief of Superconductor Science and Technology awarded IEEE Award". IOP Publishing. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
16. "Editorial Board - Superconductor Science and Technology". iopscience.iop.org. IOPscience. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
17. "Chief Scientist Workplan". www.chiefscientist.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
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 from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
19. "Dr Cathy Foley, Chief Scientist of CSIRO". RDA. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
20. Tansley, T. L.; Foley, C. P. (1986). "Optical band gap of indium nitride". Journal of Applied Physics. 59 (9). AIP Publishing: 3241–3244. 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). Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET): 1066–1068. Bibcode:1984ElL....20.1066T. doi:10.1049/el:19840729. ISSN 0013-5194.
22. Foley, C. P.; Tansley, T. L. (15 January 1986). "Pseudopotential band structure of indium nitride". Physical Review B. 33 (2). American Physical Society (APS): 1430–1433. Bibcode:1986PhRvB..33.1430F. doi:10.1103/physrevb.33.1430. ISSN 0163-1829. PMID 9938421.
23. Tansley, T. L.; Foley, C. P. (15 September 1986). "Infrared absorption in indium nitride". Journal of Applied Physics. 60 (6). AIP Publishing: 2092–2095. Bibcode:1986JAP....60.2092T. doi:10.1063/1.337213. ISSN 0021-8979.
24. "Dr Cathy Foley". www.chiefscientist.gov.au. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
25. "Women NSW - 2013 Women of the Year Awards". Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
26. "2000 - 2009 Eureka Prize winners". Australian Museum.
27. "Dr Foley biography". Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
28. "Cathy Foley". Australian Academy of Science. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
29. "Dr Catherine Patricia Foley PSM". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.

Government offices
Preceded by Alan Finkel	9th Chief Scientist of Australia 2021–present	Incumbent