In 2005, the first Australian Thinker of the Year award went to Melbourne Professor Michael Georgeff for his ground breaking research in artificial intelligence and his practical application of intelligent systems for improving health care.

The award was presented at a VIP reception hosted by the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Professor Georgeff is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Precedence Health Care, a company providing Internet-based chronic disease management services for the health profession. He is also Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. He is a principal advisor to government and industry in the US, Europe and Australia on information technology strategy in health care and business and serves on the boards of various companies. In 1983, as Program Director in the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International, Professor Georgeff and his team created one of the first implementations of an intelligent software agent, deploying it on NASA’s space shuttle. In 1988 he was invited back to Australia by the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, to establish the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute. Professor Georgeff is currently leading a number of initiatives in Australia to establish networks of broadband-based health technologies and services. As a member of the Deloitte team, he helped produce the National e-Health Strategy for Australia. Professor Georgeff is a founding member of the Australian National Consultative Committee on e-Health and a member of the Health Informatics Society of Australia. He was elected Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence in 1995 and is also a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society.

In 1990, The Bulletin proclaimed Professor Georgeff to be one of Australia’s national assets.