On the move: March

UQ PUTS TRUST IN GILLESPIE

The University of Queensland Business School has partnered with professional services firm KPMG Australia to establish a new chair in organisational trust, Professor Nicole Gillespie. A leading international scholar in the field, Gillespie will work to translate trust theory into organisation-wide practice, transforming company culture and bolstering stakeholder confidence.

“Now, more so than ever, socially responsible governance needs to be a priority in the education of emerging and future leaders,” Gillespie said.

Her position will also encompass a new research project, which will examine how trust is being impacted by digital technologies such as blockchain and AI.

KELLEHER TAKES TOP KIRBY ROLE

The Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney has a new director, Professor Anthony Kelleher. The leading international HIV researcher and clinician is tasked with continuing the exceptional legacy left by the institute’s inaugural director, Professor David Cooper, who passed away last year.

“The Kirby Institute, its staff, collaborators and the people and communities we serve, have been the inspirational core of my career,” Kelleher said. “I could not be prouder than to carry forward the institute’s innovative and life-saving research.”

Kelleher has been on the executive team since 2005 and is head of the pathogenesis and immunovirology program.

FRESH START FOR CANBERRA UNI

The University of Canberra has appointed Professor Geoffrey Crisp as its new deputy vice-chancellor (academic).

Crisp, the current pro vice-chancellor (education) at UNSW Sydney, comes with tremendous chops, having received the Stephen Cole the Elder Prize (Excellence in Teaching); the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Stranks Medal for Chemical Education and two Australian Learning and Teaching Council fellowships.

Chartered by the university’s Distinctive by Design strategy, Crisp is overseeing the teaching and learning environment as well as student support services.

FIRST CHAIR OF AUTISM RESEARCH

La Trobe’s Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre has launched an Australia-first honours scholarship for students living with autism and named their inaugural chair of autism research, Professor Cheryl Dissanayake.

Dissanayake, who is also the centre’s founding director, says the scholarship demonstrates La Trobe’s commitment to create more valuable opportunities for the autistic community. “At OTARC, we feel it’s important to train the next generation of researchers, and to specifically build autistic research talent,” she said.

The centre, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018, was the first of its kind in Australia. The scholarship will be awarded to two students annually from 2020.

ADMIRABLE NELSON AT THE HELM

The University of Southern Queensland has a new face on its leadership team with the appointment of Professor Karen Nelson as deputy vice-chancellor (academic).

Nelson has travelled north for the new role, having served as pro vice-chancellor (students) at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She has been lauded by vice-chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie as “an expert in student engagement and retention”, whose astute research into the complex nature of student success has been “instrumental in uncovering the factors influencing attrition and advancing practices across the sector”.

AU REVOIR TO OUR EDUCATION EDITOR

After more than three years, most of them as education editor of Campus Review and Education Review, Loren Smith is moving on from APN Educational Media.

“I’d like to thank all of our contributors and readers for giving me a reason to write every day,” she said.

“I’ve enjoyed all the interaction – even the heated kind in the comments section!

“I’d also like to thank my colleagues for all the friendship and advice over the years.”

Smith, staying in higher education, has taken up a position at the University of Sydney as a media adviser to its arts and law faculties.

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