Christopher Vas

Dr Christopher Vas currently heads up the Murdoch Executive Education Centre within the School of Management & Governance at Murdoch University.

Prior to this role, he was the Policy Research Program Leader at the HC Coombs Policy Forum – Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU). He led the Productivity & Competitiveness and Policy Futures program at the Forum. He has extensive experience working on public policy issues, research, analysis, and its implementation with expertise in innovation and productivity policy, labor market and public management.

Dr Vas was co-chair of the Trans-Pacific dialogue 'Creating a Productive Future: Social and Economic Challenges, Policy and Governance' jointly hosted with the Harvard Kennedy School (Harvard University). He's also the co-author of 'Demystifying Productivity for Better-Informed Policy'.

Dr Vas has extensive experience working in the Australian Government. He was Assistant Director with the Australian Government’s Department of Industry and Innovation; Education and Workplace Relations portfolios where he advised on issues relating to human capital, workplace innovation and industrial productivity.

Dr Vas also spent time at the Australian Federal Police (AFP). He played an instrumental role in establishing AFP’s partnership with the Research Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security. He was AFP’s representative on the Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet's National Security Science & Technology research panel.

Dr Vas also held positions of international repute including Engagement Director at the world-leading Indian School of Business.

Dr Vas holds a Doctorate in Public Policy (PhD) from the ANU & a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He was also visiting researcher at the Stanford University, Harvard University and University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was the recipient of the Young Investigators Grant award in 2008 and a Public Administration Grant in 2010.