Outstanding ANU community members receive King’s Birthday Honours
ANU community members have been honoured for their contributions to global trade and development, Indigenous health and the environment.
Article by:
Peter Jean
Contributing writer
A global trade and development expert and a former head of Australia’s peak Aboriginal health organisation are among 25 Australian National University (ANU) community members recognised in the King’s Birthday 2026 Honours list.
Emeritus Professor Prema-Chandra Athukorala, of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, has been made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to tertiary education, and to international trade and development economics.
With research interests in development macroeconomics and trade and development, Emeritus Professor Athukorala has been a consultant to a range of international bodies, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Labour Organization and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
He has also consulted to the government of Sri Lanka.
Dr Pat Turner has been at the forefront of community efforts to Close the Gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She served as CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACHO) from 2016 to 2026.
Dr Turner has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the Indigenous community through policy development, governance and leadership roles, and to improving health outcomes.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the ANU in 2024.
In a career that has spanned government business and academia, Dr Turner was the only Aboriginal person, only woman and longest serving CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the inaugural CEO of National Indigenous Television (NITV).
ANU alumnus Martijn Wilder has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to environmental conservation, the renewable energy sector, sustainable finance, animal welfare, and the law.
Wilder, who has a Bachelor of Laws from the ANU, is the founder and CEO of Pollination, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm.
Regarded as a legal pioneer in the development of climate change law, Wilder heads Baker McKenzie’s Global Climate Change and Environmental Markets practice.
He has served as President of WWF-Australia, chair of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and a director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
For a comprehensive list of the 25 honours recipients from the ANU community, visit: www.anu.edu.au/alumni/alumni-recognition/2026-kings-birthday-honours
Any Australian can be nominated for an award in the Order of Australia. If you know someone worthy, nominate them at www.gg.gov.au.
Top image: ANU community members have been recognised in the King’s Birthday 2026 Honours list. Photo: Lannon Harley/ANU
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