ACS appoints Helen McHugh as president

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has elected Helen McHugh as its president for 2024 and 2025.

[L-R] Helen McHugh and Dr Nick Tate.

According to the ACS, McHugh will be the second female President of ACS after Brenda Aynsley, OAM, who led the organisation between 2014 and 15.

McHugh, the current NSW branch chair, was elected in a vote held by the ACS National Congress to succeed Dr Nick Tate who is stepping down as required by the ACS national rules and regulations.

McHugh said, “It’s a great privilege to be elected President of ACS. As the peak body for Australia’s IT profession, ACS represents both the heritage and the future of the nation’s technology sector.

“On a personal level, being elected President is a great honour given my father worked with Trevor Pearcey, one of the great pioneers of Australian computing. I’m hoping we can build on those foundations to grow ACS’ member base.

She added, “I’m also focused on how we can deliver more value for members for the sector and boost ACS’ engagement with other groups and associations to amplify the technology sector’s positions.”

Tate, outgoing ACS president said “it’s a great pleasure to hand the reins over to McHugh. It has been a privilege to represent ACS during a period where we came out of COVID stronger than ever with a strong member base.”

Commenting on McHugh’s appointment, Chris Vein, CEO at the ACS said, “I look forward to working with McHugh over the next two years as we look to transform the organisation to build its relevance to members and the wider technology community.”

In the elections held, four other positions were contested with the following members elected to roles on the National Management Committee.

These include Jeff Smith in Victoria as VP of membership boards, Roger Clarke at the Canberra branch as the national congressional representative, Tapan Dave at the South Australian branch as a national congressional representative, and Rod Dilnutt at the Victorian Branch as a national congressional representative.

McHugh and the newly elected management committee members will formally take their positions from 1 January 2024.