Allan Gyngell was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy (2003-09). He went on to be the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (ONA), Australia’s peak intelligence analysis agency, from July 2009 until April 2013. He was later National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, and an honorary professor in the ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific.

Allan had a distinguished service in government, joining the Department of External Affairs (later DFAT) in 1969, with postings in Rangoon, Singapore and Washington. He was an analyst with ONA and head of the international division in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, before serving as international adviser to then prime minister Paul Keating. Allan died in 2023.