Dagmar has been a Senior Executive for over 35 including 11 years as the CEO and State Librarian of the State Library of NSW. She has also worked as an academic at University of Technology Sydney and in the government and private sector.

She has been a director on not- for-profit Boards throughout her career including on the NSW Alzheimer’s Australia Advisory Board, was the past Chair of CHeBA’s original Advisory Committee to 2018 and to 2015 was a Chair of the War Widows Guild of Australia NSW.

In 2023 she was appointed to the new CHeBA Advisory Committee (UNSW Medicine) and joined The Book Adviser as a consultant and business brand specialist.  Prior to that she was the Director of the highly successful Chief Executive Women’s Leaders Program delivering innovative leadership programs in Australia and Asia from 2009-2021. During this period more than 1400 women graduated from this program.

Dagmar was awarded an Order of Australia in 2004 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. The University of NSW awarded her a Doctor of Letters in 1999 and the Alumni Award for Arts/Law in 2006 and in 2023 included her in The Women’s Trail honouring UNSW women graduates. Since 2019 she has been an alumni mentor for the UNSW Business School. Dagmar is profiled in ‘A Fair Go, Portraits of the Australian Dream; fifty inspiring Australians’ by Wendy McCarthy AO. Focus Publishing, 1999.