Robert L. Joss, dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, will be among those to receive the Australian government's Centenary Medal during a ceremony June 5 in Washington, D.C. The medal honors individuals who have made a contribution to Australian society.

Joss, who spent six years as chief executive officer and managing director of Westpac Banking Corporation, one of Australia's largest banks, also was a member of a national panel that made influential recommendations for changes in Australia's business taxation system. Joss holds dual U.S. and Australian citizenship.

About two dozen Centenary Medals have been awarded to people in the United States, including publisher Rupert Murdoch, actor Mel Gibson, Australian-born NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas, World Bank President James Wolfensohn, and Jacques Nasser, former president and CEO of Ford Motor Co. The June 5 ceremony will be held at the official residence of Australian Ambassador Michael Thawley.

In 1999 a report authored by Joss and two other business leaders appointed by the Australian government issued a sweeping call for major changes in business taxes in the nation. Many of these recommendations were later adopted into law. In addition to his work on the report, Joss is credited with refocusing Westpac during his tenure as head of the bank by modernizing and streamlining operations and restructuring the bank's culture to emphasize teamwork, customer focus, open communication, and community support. During his tenure, the institution's share price rose 375 percent, and an important national institution was moved from financial distress to acknowledged strength.

The Centenary Medal was created in December 2001 under Australian Prime Minister John Howard to enable the community to thank those who have made Australia's first hundred years as a federal nation such a great success and who have laid solid foundations for Australia's future.