Macquarie University alumnus Dr Larry Marshall was last week announced as the incoming chief executive of Australia’s peak science and research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Dr Marshall will take over from Dr Megan Clark when her term expires in 2015. He completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) as well as a PhD in Physics at Macquarie, and was a student of our former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Emeritus Professor Jim Piper.

Marshall went on to forge a highly successful career as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur in the United States of America. He has founded or co-founded six successful companies in the laser/optical, semiconductor and medical sectors, holds 20 patents protecting numerous commercial products and has over 100 publications and presentations.

“Larry is a Macquarie graduate through and through,” says Professor Piper. “His career has been quite pioneering in many ways, and he is regarded as a father of the Australian entrepreneurs ‘making it’ in Silicon Valley.”

Piper has stayed in touch with Dr Marshall throughout his career, and was chuffed that Marshall was among the former students who returned to Australia to honour Piper during his Festschrift in 2013.

“Larry’s appointment to arguably one of the most senior scientific roles in the country is a great compliment to Macquarie, and bodes well for the relationship between our organisations in future,” says Professor Piper.