AUSTRALIA: New head for top university

The Australian National University is the nation's top research institution and its vice-chancellors have usually been drawn from other research-intensive institutions. But now the head of a former technical college has been appointed to the post.

Professor Ian Young is vice-chancellor of the small Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne and will succeed Professor Ian Chubb who has held the ANU top job for more than a decade.

Young has been in charge of Swinburne for the past seven years and under his watch it has become a leader in a number of technological fields. He is also the only serving vice-chancellor to hold an Australian Research Council grant.

Before taking up the post at Swinburne, Young was executive dean of engineering, computer and mathematical sciences at the University of Adelaide, where he was also pro-vice-chancellor (international).

The author of three books and 100 journal papers on coastal and ocean engineering, he has had extensive experience across tertiary education, including the higher education and vocational education spheres. He has had extensive experience as an engineering consultant in Australia, the US and Asia.

The ANU council spent four months conducting an international search for its new vice-chancellor and the university's Chancellor, Gareth Evans, described Young as "an outstanding candidate in a stellar field.

"He has a wonderful scholarly and professional reputation, and all the qualities of vision, judgment and management flair and commitment to excellence in research, teaching and policy outreach that this great national university needs to take it through its next stage of development," Evans said.

Swinburne Chancellor Bill Scales said that under Young's leadership, Swinburne had made enormous advances, particularly in research. This included being rated among the world's top universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings and becoming the only dual-sector university in Australia to be listed.

Young said he was excited about the opportunity to lead the ANU, the highest-rated Australian university in the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings, and a recognised world-class institution. He takes up the appointment next March.