Symposium: The Role of Universities in the 2020s

Peter Dawkins has been Vice-Chancellor and President of Victoria University since January 2011.

This follows six years in high-level leadership roles for the Victorian Government, and twenty-eight years in the university sector.

Peter is a regular contributor to policy debates in the area of education, especially tertiary education. Peter is currently leading a transformation agenda at Victoria University that will shape the University between now and 2030.

Victoria University positions itself as the University of Opportunity and Success, supporting the career development of students from diverse countries, cultures, socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. In its research and engagement agenda Victoria University focusses on applied and translational research and making a difference to industry, community and public policy.

Peter was awarded an Order of Australia in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his outstanding service to tertiary education as an administrator and academic.

Professor Annabelle Duncan became the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the University of New England (UNE) in 2014, after joining UNE as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research in 2010 and then as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Prior to this, Professor Duncan spent 16 years at CSIRO, including 6 years as Chief of the Division of Molecular Science, before serving as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Bio21 Institute at Melbourne University and the Executive Director of Science Collaboration and Transition in the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience.

Professor Duncan acted as an advisor to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on biological weapons control, representing Australia at international arms control meetings and acting as a biological weapons inspector with the United Nations in Iraq. She was awarded a Public Service Medal (1996) and an Honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) from Murdoch University (2005) for her work in arms control.

In 2018, Professor Duncan was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering for her work as both an educational leader and educator in science and technology since 2018. She completed a Bachelor of Science and her Masters at the University of Otago and her PhD at La Trobe University.

Professor Peter Høj commenced as Vice Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland in October 2012. Prior to this appointment he was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of South Australia from June 2007.  2004-2007 he was CEO of the Australian Research Council and Managing Director of the Australian Wine Research Institute 1997-2004. He was educated at the University of Copenhagen, majoring in biochemistry and chemistry, has a Master of Science degree in biochemistry and genetics, a PhD in photosynthesis, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide.

Professor Høj is a Director of the Board of Group of Eight (Go8) Universities and in 2017 was the Chair.  He is a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB).He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Foreign Member (Natural Sciences Class) of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. In 2018 Professor Høj was announced as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (USA).  In January 2019 Professor Høj was awarded an AC in the Australia Day Honours awards for service to higher education, commercialization of research and policy development and reform. In April 2019 Professor Høj received the 2018 CASE Asia-Pacific Leadership Award.

Megan Lilly is the Head of Workforce Development for The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), Managing Director of the Australian Industry Group Training Services (AiGTS) and the AiGroup Graduate Employment Services. Prior to this she was the Chief Executive Officer of Business Services Training Australia, the national industry advisory board for the business services and related industry sectors. Before joining the national board, she held several senior management positions in various Victorian TAFE institutes.

Ms Lilly is a member of the Australian Industry Skills Committee (alternating Director), Chair of Manufacturing Skills Australia, Deputy Chair – Worldskills Australia, member of the Australian College of Educators, member of the Salvation Army Disability Employment Services Advisory Committee, and the Naval shipbuilding College – Delivery Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the Australia India Education Council, including Chairing the Skills Working Group, Australian Qualifications Framework Council, Queensland Ministerial Commission, Victorian Skills Commission and Australia Pacific Technical College. Megan was a member of the National Skills Standards Council, and the National Quality Council.  Megan also chaired the Joint COAG-NQC Working Group – VET Products for the 21 Century and has presented at international conferences. She has a Masters in Educational Policy and Administration.

Professor Duncan Maskell is the 20th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, a role he commenced in October 2018. He took his undergraduate and PhD degrees at the University of Cambridge.  He did post-doctoral research at Wellcome Biotech and the University of Oxford, and became a Lecturer at Imperial College London, before returning to Cambridge as a Professor.  He went on to become Head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine there, then Head of the School of the Biological Sciences, before becoming the Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor, responsible for the University’s Planning and Resources, with oversight of its £2 billion turnover.

In a distinguished academic career Professor Maskell has published more than 250 research papers, leading a large research group working on bacterial infections of livestock and people, and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. An active entrepreneur, Professor Maskell has co-founder of four biotech companies, including Arrow Therapeutics Ltd and Discuva Ltd, has advised many more, and was a member of the University of Cambridge Seed Fund Investment Committee, and on the Board of Cambridge Innovation Capital, a patient capital fund.  He was also a main Board member of Genus plc, a FTSE250 company.

Professor Beth Webster is the Director of the Centre for Transformative Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology and Pro Vice Chancellor (Research Policy and Impact). She has a PhD (Cambridge), M Economics (Monash) and B Ec (hons) (Monash). She is also an Honorary Professorial Fellow, at the Universities of Melbourne and Oxford. Her research interests cover several areas of applied economics including innovation; intangible capital; intellectual property; firm performance and public policy for the translation of science.

Under the name Elizabeth Webster she has authored over 100 articles on the economics of innovation and firm performance and has been published in RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Oxford Economic Papers, Journal of Law & Economics and Cambridge Journal of Economics. She has been appointed to a number of committees including the Lomax-Smith Base funding Review; the Bracks’ Review of the Automotive Committee; CEDA Advisory Council; the Advisory Council for Intellectual Property; European Policy for Intellectual Property Association; and Asia Pacific Innovation Network.