Peter Newman AO is the professor of sustainability at Curtin University and director of CUSP, which has 80 PhD students examining sustainability policy.

Over forty years he has written fifteen books and 280 refereed papers, and helped establish academic and policy thinking about sustainable cities. He has also been an activist and worked in government at local, state and national level as well as being on a number of international bodies including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In 2014 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his contributions to education and the community on urban design and sustainable transport.