I have had the priv­i­lege of en­gag­ing in high-lev­el ex­changes with Dr Stephen Shep­pard over the years. Dr Shep­pard is a pro­fes­sion­al, an aca­d­e­m­ic and, im­por­tant­ly, a law-abid­ing cit­i­zen who takes his civic re­spon­si­bil­i­ties se­ri­ous­ly. His per­spec­tives are shaped not mere­ly by aca­d­e­m­ic knowl­edge, but by sig­nif­i­cant pro­fes­sion­al and lead­er­ship ex­pe­ri­ence across sev­er­al im­por­tant sec­tors of na­tion­al life.