Management & Governance

Ashton Calvert

Ashton Calvert AC, BSc (Hons) (Tas), DPhil (Oxon), Hon DSc (Tas)

Appointment and election: Director of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited since 2005. Ashton was re-elected by shareholders in 2007 and resigned from the Group due to ill health on 7 November 2007.

Skills and experience: He retired as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia in January 2005 after six and a half years in that position. He was educated at the University of Tasmania and, as a Rhodes scholar, also gained a doctorate in mathematics from Oxford University. During his career in the Australian foreign service he held appointments in Washington and, on four occasions, in Tokyo, where he was ambassador prior to his appointment as secretary. In these and other roles he developed extensive experience of the Asian countries which represent key markets for Rio Tinto.

External appointments (current and recent) upon leaving the Group:
Director of Woodside Petroleum Limited between 2005 and 2007
Director of The Australian Trade Commission between 1998 and 2005
Director of The Export Finance and Insurance Corporation between 1998 and 2005
Director of The Australian Strategic Policy Institute between 2001 and 2005

Notes
(a) Audit committee
(b) Remuneration committee
(c) Nominations committee
(d) Committee on social and environmental accountability
(e) Independent