Vale Neil Balnaves AO

The Charles Darwin University (CDU) community is saddened to learn of the passing of one of its influential leaders, former Chancellor Mr Neil Balnaves AO.

Mr Balnaves has died at the age of 77, after a tragic accident overseas. He led CDU through three transformative years from April 2016 to December 2018. During this time Mr Balnaves also served as an active member of the CDU Foundation Board.

CDU Chancellor, the Hon Paul Henderson AO and Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Scott Bowman AO, paid tribute to the man who "positively transformed CDU through his extensive experience in corporate affairs, the media industry and through his significant philanthropic activities."

They have also conveyed the CDU community’s deep condolences to Mr Balnaves wife, Diane Balnaves, whom he married in 1971, and his children.

“Neil Balnaves was a remarkable leader and a positive force for change whose service and philanthropic generosity to Charles Darwin University and the Menzies School of Health Research continues to deliver lasting and profound impacts,” Mr Henderson said.

“His vast experience in business, which spans more than 50 years, has contributed greatly to the quality of his stewardship of this University. While universities are essentially non-profit organisations, they are big and complex businesses these days and require someone at the helm who knows how a business operates, or how it should operate.”

In 2006, Mr Balnaves established The Balnaves Foundation, a philanthropic fund that disperses around $3 million a year to support eligible organisations that aim to create a better Australia through education, medicine, and the arts with a focus on young people, the disadvantaged and Indigenous communities.

He had 60 years of experience in the media industry, previously holding the position of Executive Chairman of the Southern Star Group, which he founded in 1988.

In 2010, Mr Balnaves was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his services to business and philanthropy.

As a result of Mr Balnaves generous philanthropic contribution, the University holds an outstanding collection of art, which is an important Territory community asset.

Mr Balnaves generously donated a sculpture by an iconic Australian artist Robert Klippel, who has been described as Australia’s greatest sculptor. This sculpture now holds pride of place in the University’s Theatre.