Roger Lough
Roger left the post of Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist in 2008 after more than forty years in the Defence Science & Technology Organisation (DSTO) and its predecessors.
Born in the UK, Roger began his career in 1963 as a laboratory technician for the then Department of Supply. He obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Adelaide University and won the prize for best thesis in physical sciences for 1974. He then started his research career as a rocket scientist. including a period with the US Armed Services as a Harkness Fellow. He returned to Australia in 1978 and worked on advanced weaponry for the next six years.
Roger went back to the US in 1983 as the Defence Science Attaché with the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. returning in 1987. He then served as Chief of several DSTO Divisions in Salisbury and Melbourne – a pioneer of the ‘silo-busting’ changes as DSTO strived to become more responsive and relevant. As Chief of Land Operations Division (CLOD) Roger was instrumental in vastly increasing DSTO’s program support for the Army.
Roger served as First Assistant Secretary, Science Policy and was promoted to Director of the DSTO Melbourne Laboratories before his appointment as Chief Defence Scientist in 2003. Among the many changes implemented on his watch were the new mandate for DSTO to assess technical risk in major defence acquisitions and the initiation of programs to service the burgeoning needs of national security outside the military/defence organisation. This included leading an internal renewal program to address long-standing cultural and business process issues.
Roger is a Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a recipient of the US National Intelligence Community Medallion. He has served on the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council, and the National Critical Research Infrastructure Strategy Committee. He is currently director and deputy chair, Defence Materials Technology Centre and a member of the Victorian Defence Industry Advisory Council.
Roger collaborated actively with the providers of DSTO in-house development programs, and we met him in that context and worked with him for ten years. Brilliant people with vision and driven purpose are great fun to work with, and we look forward to finding ways to continue to work with Roger in the years to come. He brings unique gifts to any table.