The Hon Julia Gillard AC, Prime Minister of Australia
Born in Barry, Glamorgan, Julia Gillard’s family emigrated to Australia in 1966, settling in Adelaide. After attending the Universities of Adelaide and Melbourne, she joined the law firm Slater & Gordon n 1987 In 1987, she joined the law firm Slater & Gordon. She became a partner in 1990, specialising in industrial law, leaving in 1996 to pursue a career in politics.
Elected to the federal House of Representatives in 1998, Julia Gillard held ministerial office in the Labor Party government elected in 2007, becoming Prime Minister in 2010 and holding office until 2013.
Julia Gillard was made an honorary fellow of Aberystwyth University in June 2015 and has also served as the chairwoman of the Global Partnership for Education since February 2014. In May 2020 it was announced that she had been appointed chair of the Welcome Trust to assume the role from April 2021.