ON THE MOVE
campusreview.com.au
DAVIS MOVES ON
AFTER 14 YEARS
Australia’s longest-
serving VC, Professor
Glyn Davis, has left his
post at the University
of Melbourne. Davis,
UniMelb’s 19th VC, took the job in 2005 after
a stint as Griffith VC and president.
Davis will return to part-time teaching
and also take on a number of other roles,
including distinguished professor at the
Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU
and in an honorary capacity as a professor of
political science at UniMelb’s Faculty of Arts.
He thanked “the academics and
professional staff, the student leaders, union
representatives and even the occasional
protestors, because each one cares about
what happens here".
NEW BLOOD FOR
MELBOURNE
We think of unicorns as imaginary, mythical
creatures, so you may be surprised to learn
they actually exist. In the world of business,
it’s the name given to startup companies
valued at more than US$1 billion. Venture
capitalist Aileen Lee coined the term in 2013
to represent the rarity of these beasts, but
such is the ambition, particularly of tech
companies, that there are now decacorns
and hectocorns (worth US$10 billion
and US$100 billion respectively).
Aside from the etymological liberty
of these formations (the uni- originally
referring to the number of horns (cornu),
now the prefix indicates the number of
dollars), some people have objected to
the whole get‑rich‑quick ethos that is
implicit in the name. One group, called the
'zebra movement', suggests that this ethos
"rewards quantity over quality, consumption
over creation, quick exits over sustainable
growth, and shareholder profit over shared
prosperity". They propose the zebra as
an appropriate symbol for an alternative
business model that promotes social
responsibility and the sharing of wealth,
partly because of that animal’s inclusive black
and white stripes and collective instinct, but
mainly because it’s real and represents more
widely achievable goals. It’s an interesting
choice of animal. There are many others they
could have chosen, perhaps even the pig –
though not the flying variety of course.
Written by Dr Adam Smith, convenor of
the Editing and Electronic Publishing
Program at Macquarie University.
28
Replacing Professor
Glyn Davis as vice-
chancellor of the
University of Melbourne
is Professor Duncan
Maskell. An established entrepreneur, Maskell
has co-founded four biotech companies,
and until August he was at the University
of Cambridge, where he held the position
of senior pro-vice-chancellor (planning
and resources).
UniMelb chancellor Allan Myers, AC, QC,
said the university’s council is pleased to
welcome Maskell to the university.
“Professor Maskell’s credentials as an
entrepreneur and leader, academic and
administrator at one of the world’s top
universities are outstanding,” he said.
LA TROBE SNAGS
TOP TEACHER
La Trobe University has
announced Professor
Paul McDermott as
its inaugural pro-vice-
chancellor (Indigenous).
Currently the director of Flinders
University’s two Poche Centres for
Indigenous Health and Well-Being (Adelaide
and Northern Territory), McDermott has
previously been awarded a National Senior
Teaching Fellowship from the Australian
Government Office of Learning and Teaching
and has written and lectured extensively in
the field of health and Indigenous education.
La Trobe deputy VC Professor Kerri-Lee
Krause welcomed the appointment.
“Professor McDermott’s appointment
reflects La Trobe’s commitment to expanding
our social justice and equity agendas in the
Indigenous area,” she said.
SUNSHINE AND
SANDERSON
Agrifood and intellectual
property expert Professor
Jay Sanderson is the
new head of the USC
Law School.
Sanderson, who has been at USC for
three years, is keen to see core ethical
and decision-making skills instilled in the
university's law students.
“Ethical practice is such a core part of what
we do in law and criminology. It needs to
be ingrained in our students from the very
beginning because they will need to comply
with all sorts of standards and codes of
conduct,” he said.
Sanderson previously worked as a
lecturer at Griffith Law School, where he
taught intellectual property, tort law and
legal research. He replaces Professor Pam
O’Connor who retired in July.
PHILLIPSON NEW
WHO MENTOR
Dr Lyn Phillipson
from the University of
Wollongong’s School
of Health and Society
has been appointed
as an age-friendly mentor by the World
Health Organization and the International
Federation on Ageing.
One of only 20 people named as a
mentor for the Age-Friendly Environments
Mentoring Programme (MENTOR-AFE),
the award-winning academic will provide
guidance and support to enable the
mentee to develop the specific skills they
need to advance their work on age-friendly
environments over 12 months.
“This is the first time they have run the
program, so to be an inaugural mentor is a
real honour,” Phillipson said.
FLORIDIAN FLAVOUR
FOR CURTIN UNI
Jason Cowie will
be joining Curtin
University as CIO
starting January 2019.
Currently a managing
vice-president at Gartner in Florida, Cowie
is responsible for developing the university’s
data analytics, smart campus, student
experience and partnership initiatives, while
overseeing the delivery of secure and stable
ICT services and infrastructure.
VC Deborah Terry said: “Jason will
join Curtin as our new chief information
officer next year with more than 25 years’
experience in the IT industry and a successful
track record as a business-oriented,
innovative and transformational leader”. ■