The board of Nuffield Australia has appointed 2015 Nuffield Scholar Andy Clarke of Bendigo, Victoria, as its new chief executive officer.
As a Nuffield Scholar and industry leader, Clarke will take on responsibility for delivering Nuffield Australia’s strategic direction and advancing its charitable purpose of supporting sustainable and profitable primary production through an international scholarship program that builds an agricultural network.
Clarke joined the board of Nuffield Australia in September 2025 as an elected member director and served as chair of the finance, audit and risk committee. He will resign from the board effective 28 February to assume the chief executive officer position. The board has decided to leave the director position vacant, with recruitment for member director roles commencing in May 2026 ahead of voting at the September AGM.
Clarke holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in Viticulture from the University of Adelaide and began his career as chief viticulturalist at Yering Station, where he worked in premium wine production.
Most recently, he was program manager regional innovation at Wine Australia, leading national extension and adoption programs focused on research translation, emerging technologies and value creation across Australia’s wine sector. His work centred on delivering clear value propositions and supporting on farm adoption of innovation.
Clarke also previously served as chief executive officer of AgTech start up GAIA Innovations, where he led the commercialisation of the GAIA web app platform.
He will commence as chief executive officer from 2 March 2026. Until then, Guy Hebblewhite, a 2013 Scholar, will continue as executive director.
Applications for the Nuffield Australia 2027 Scholarship are already open, closing the 8 May 2026. The scholarship invites farmers and agriculture industry workers to “explore new ideas, challenge convention and help shape a resilient and profitable future for food and fibre production”.
According to Nuffield, successful recipients will be announced at the Nuffield Australia National Conference in Darwin on 9-10 September 2026.