The Directors of NEAS are pleased to advise the membership that Christine Bundesen AM (BA UQueensland, MA UManitoba, MACE, MAICD) has been appointed as a Non-member Director of the NEAS Board.  In accepting the invitation Ms Bundesen stated: 

“I am very pleased to accept the role of Director on the NEAS Board and to being able to contribute to the mission and strategic directions of NEAS in Quality Assurance in the regional and global ELT sectors.”

Ms Bundesen AM has had a distinguished career, is a professional with extensive background and experience as an executive manager, educator, and industry advocate and leader over the past 30+ years, and has gained a well-recognised profile in the Australian and global English language training and international education sectors. 

Ms Bundesen’s professional commitments, portfolio and membership positions have included government and industry boards, advisory councils, and reference groups related to international education in general and to the ELT sector at state, national and international levels:

• Board Member IDP Education Australia Ltd 1987-2007;
• Inaugural Chairperson/Council Member English Australia/ELICOS Association 1988-2000/2000-2013;
• Board Member IELTS Australia P/L 1990-2008;
• Chairperson/Member University of Cambridge ESOL Teaching Advisory Council 1996-2006 and International Working Group 2004-2006;
• Member Executive Committee University of Danang/University of Queensland English Language Institute (Vietnam) 2004-2015 & Member Board of University of Queensland—Universidad Catolica del Norte English Language Institute S.A. (Chile) 2008-2015;
• Member Australian government AESOC Transnational Quality Strategy (TQS) Reference and Working Groups and DEST TQS Expert Group on Quality Assessment 2005-2009;
• Cambridge English Australia Advisory Group 2009-2014.

Ms Bundesen AM was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM General Division) for “service to international tertiary education through leadership roles in the field of English Language Teaching, to the development of quality assurance standards, and to professional organisations” in 2012.

She has previously been awarded the inaugural IDP National Award for Excellence and Achievement in International Education in 1997, an Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 for ‘contributing to the overseas student visa program and the teaching of English', a Danang People's Committee of Vietnam Medal for Contribution to Education in 2005, and the inaugural English Australia Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 for Outstanding Service to the ELICOS Industry.

Ms Bundesen retired as Director of the Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education at The University of Queensland (ICTE-UQ) in Brisbane, Australia in October 2015 and now provides consultancy services as cmbGlobal to the government, public and private education sectors both in Australia and abroad.