Established in November 2020, the North America Advisory Board (NAAB) provides strategic support in building and sustaining a thriving community of alumni and friends in North America.
Comprising a group of exceptional alumni leaders, board members actively encourage alumni connections and engagement, support professional networks and UTS outreach, and act as advocates for the university. In partnership with UTS Advancement and Alumni, they are committed to ensuring that UTS realises its vision of becoming a world-leading university of technology.
UTS North America Advisory Board Members
Jim White (Chair)
ME Adult Education (1996)
Jim is a visionary, proactive, dynamic business-savvy executive with over 20 years of experience leading Human Resource operations. He is active in civic and philanthropic support towards eradicating poverty and family homelessness in Los Angeles. In 2019, Jim was awarded the UTS International Alumni Award. Resides in Los Angeles, California, USA
Cheryl Duffy-Geiger (Deputy Chair)
BBus Accounting (1986)
Cheryl is a results orientated business partner with extensive global and operational experience, having worked and lived in Europe, Asia/Pacific and American geographies. Cheryl seeks to understand change and embrace it, all while mentoring organisations through the change management process. Resides in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Rob Castaneda
BSc Computing Science (2001)
In 2001, Rob started his company, ServiceRocket, which is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and has grown to more than 170 employees worldwide. In 2017, Rob was awarded the UTS Chancellors Alumni Award for Excellence and the Alumni Award for Excellence, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology. Resides in Palo Alto, California USA
Sabrina (Xihua) Chen
BBus Management (2006)
Sabrina Chen is currently a Senior Vice President at Citi New York, serving as the Head of Citi Global AML Customer Risk. Prior to her tenure at Citi, Sabrina was a Risk Consultant serving clients in the financial service industry for regulatory compliance and forensics/investigation related matters. Resides in Hoboken New Jersey, USA
Travis Johnson
BBus Marketing & Management (1998)
An Australian expat living in New York City since 2015, Travis is the Global CEO, Podean. Prior to his role at Podean, he led Dentsu's e-commerce consultancy, Sellwin, and was Global CEO of mobile and innovation agency, Ansible. Resides in New York City, New York, USA
Professor Carolyn McGregor AM
PhD Computing Sciences (2003)
Carolyn is the Dean, Faculty of Business and IT/Co-Director and Research Excellence Chair in Health Informatics based at Ontario Tech University. She is the founding Director of the Joint Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence for Health and Wellness between Ontario Tech University and the University of Technology Sydney.
James Pinkerton
BBus (2004)
Prior to Bailard, James was a Senior Director at Tishman Speyer in New York and San Francisco, where he worked on the acquisition, disposition and recapitalisation of investments and also acted as the portfolio manager for a core and core-plus investment fund.
Marie Le
BBus (1997)
Marie Le is an authority in helping companies cultivate sustainable, balanced growth for global startups and brands by cross-pollinating product and marketing strategies to achieve product-market fit. Marie Le is co-founder and CMO at B2C Product Marketing Marketing Agency and Techstars Mentor
Nick Saady
LLB (Hons) 2018: First Class Honours and University Medal
Nick Saady is an experienced attorney who has represented high-profile organisations and individuals regarding complex commercial, entertainment law, intellectual property, and sports issues. He has also conducted prominent white-collar investigations and a constitutional impeachment inquiry.
Vivian Wong
BAppSc Computing Science (1993)
Vivian is a product and technology development executive. She is a seasoned leader and board director with a broad depth of experience driving companies to best leverage technology, data, information, and the cloud. Vivian has over 25 years’ experience in leadership, strategy, product development and operations role.
Rebecca Hazell
North America Advisory Board Ex-Officio
Rebecca Hazell leads alumni engagement, philanthropy and community partnerships at UTS. She brings more than two decades of experience across higher education and the not-for-profit sector, including senior advancement leadership roles at the University of Newcastle.
Tracey Beck
NA Advisory Board Ex-Officio
Tracey is an experienced marketing, development and alumni relations professional with extensive strategic and management experience. Tracey has over 20 years’ experience managing alumni and donor programs to build strategic support for four leading universities both in Australia and the UK.