James
Strong AO

Speaker Profile

In Memoriam
James Strong AO
1944 - 2013

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of James Strong in Sydney on 3rd March, 2013. James was a part of Saxton since 1989: a wonderful speaker, a mentor, and a champion of the company. He went on to become our Chairman in 2009. His leadership, support and guidance have been invaluable.

James was an ornament to public speaking - he was at once powerful yet intensely personal. He was passionate about people and human potential.

Following a Qantas A380 Airbus low flyover, a public memorial was held at Sydney's City Recital Hall, featuring tributes from David Gonski, Alan Joyce, John Forsyth, Grant O'Brien and his son Sam Strong, touching performances by Philippe Jaroussky, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Bernadette Robinson, and hosted movingly by long-time friend Richard Morecroft.

James leaves the world a richer place and the myriad people he, in some way, touched throughout his life, personally richer for having known him. We mourn the loss of a beautiful person and a precious friend.

Our thoughts are with his family - his brothers Phillip and David, his sons Nick and Sam, daughter in law Katherine and his beloved wife Jeanne-Claude.

- Nanette, Winston, John and the team at Saxton

More on James Strong

James Strong was the Chairman of Kathmandu Holdings Limited, a Director of Qantas Airways, and a member of the Nomura Australia Limited Advisory Board.

A passionate supporter of the arts, his Arts associations included chairing the Australia Council for the Arts (the primary arts funding and policy body of the Australian Government), the Sydney Theatre Company, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Business Arts Foundation, the State Library of Victoria and serving as a director of Opera Australia. He also chaired a review of all Australian symphony and pit orchestras for the Australian Government.

A keen sportsman in his own right, from mountain climbing including scaling the highest mountain in Antarctica (Mt Vinson), to scuba diving and riding motorcycles, he was also Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand, Chairman of the V8 Supercars Championship and a Director of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation which conducts the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne and the World Motorcycle Championship in Phillip Island.

James' business career has spanned Industrial relations, law, mining, political lobbying, aviation, the liquor industry, retailing and insurance. Some of his higher profile roles were as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Woolworths from 2000 to 2012; and CEO of Qantas from 1993 to 2001. He is also a former Chairman of IATA, the International Air Transport Association and a former Chairman of Insurance Australia Group.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2006 for his services to business and commerce, particularly in the aviation, insurance and retail fields, and to the arts as an administrator and philanthropist. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University, is an Adjunct Professor of the University of Queensland, and has been Admitted as a Solicitor and/or Barrister in various jurisdictions in Australia.

His achievements have been recognised on many occasions and include being awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for contributions to aviation and the arts, the Sir Charles McGrath Award for Excellence in Marketing, the Monash University and Mount Eliza Alumni Award for Leadership and the Smithsonian Institute’s Laureate Hall of Fame Award for Commercial Air Transport.

James Strong had a wealth of business experience and success to his credit. His special areas of interest were strategy, communications, organisational change and people. An articulate and focused speaker, James Strong delivered straightforward, invaluable lessons for senior management.