Professor David Yencken AO is Professor Emeritus at The University of Melbourne. He was the co- founder of Merchant Builders and Tract Consultants, winners of many design awards.
He was for six years Chairman of the Australian Heritage Commission and then Secretary for Planning and Environment, Government of Victoria. He has been a member of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and has represented Australia twice at World Heritage Committee meetings. He was the former chair of the Design Committee of the Australia Council for the Arts. He has been Head of the School of Environmental Planning at the University of Melbourne, President and later Patron of the Australian Conservation Foundation and a member of the Commonwealth State of the Environment Advisory Council. He has served on many other government and university bodies.
He has written or edited many books. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Architecture by The University of Melbourne