Dr Barry Hughes has been an academic staff member of the University of Melbourne since 1986, and is now a Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, he undertook undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland. After doctoral studies in applied mathematics at the Australian National University, he undertook postdoctoral work in the United States at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester; the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland; and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota. Before joining the University of Melbourne, he worked at the Australian National University, and the Royal Military College of Australia. His research interests include stochastic modelling (random walks, random environments, power-law phenomena, stochastically evolving networks), continuum modelling, and methods of applied mathematics, with applications in the physical, social and life sciences and increasingly directed towards developmental biology. He is the author of the two-volume book, “Random Walks and Random Environments” (Oxford University Press). Dr Hughes is actively involved in higher education policy. He was Chair of Selection Procedures Committee at the University of Melbourne (2005-2014), was Executive Director of the National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences Research in Australia (which reported in 2006) and contributed to the development of the Decadal Plan for the Mathematical Science in Australia 2016-2025. He has participated in and chaired discipline reviews of mathematics at several universities for the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment, Saudi Arabia.