Background
Joanna Hewitt was born in Denmark, Western Australia on 1 May 1949.
Joanna Hewitt was born in Denmark, Western Australia on 1 May 1949.
London School of Economics.
She is currently the Chair of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. She was schooled and raised in rural Western Australia and Perth, going on to study her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Australia. She later earned a master"s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Hewitt joined the Australian Public Service in 1972 as a trainee at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In 1998, she was appointed Australia"s Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), the pre-eminent regional forum for economic and trade dialogue. Between 2000 and 2003 Hewitt was Australia’s Ambassador in Brussels, Belgium, and concurrently ambassador to the European Union and Luxembourg.
In 2004 she was elevated to the position of Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Hewitt is currently Chair of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.