Dr Amanda Bell AM served as Principal of Women’s College from 2013 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Sydney, her professional expertise developed from wide experience in teaching, management, leadership and governance roles in both schools and art galleries in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. Dr Bell’s doctoral research completed at the University of Technology, Sydney combined her deep commitment to profiling the achievements of women in education, the arts and philanthropy.
Dr Bell held a number of board positions during her distinguished career in education and the arts. She has served as a member of the NSW Rhodes Scholarship Committee and the Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarships Selection panel, a Governor and Chair of Queenwood School, and as Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Youth Futures at the University of Technology in Sydney. She was an Honorary Lecturer in the Education and Social Work Faculty at the University of Sydney, and a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was formerly a Trustee and Deputy Chair of the Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art. Prior to her post at Women’s College she was Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School for eleven years.
Dr Bell was a state finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards and won a National Leadership Award in Music Education. She also won an Australian Government Award for Quality Schooling for Excellence as a Principal and was nominated by the Queensland Government’s Office for Women for inclusion in their 100 Years of Women’s Achievements register for her leadership in education. In 2017 Dr Bell was awarded Member of the Order of Australia “for significant service to education, particularly to young women as a leader and academic, and to the visual arts.”
Among her many legacies to Women’s College is the state-of-the-art Sibyl Centre, the multi award winning building conceived and constructed during her tenure as Principal.