Griffith University have appointed a graduate as Vice-Chancellor for the first time; announcing that Jessica Vanderlelie will take the helm from 16 November.
Professor Vanderlelie stepped down as DVC (Academic) at Deakin recently, following a longer stint as DVC (A) at La Trobe.
There won’t be a need – or an appetite – to reinvent the wheel following the departure of Carolyn Evans, who is moving to the University of Melbourne. Chancellor Andrew Fraser said the Council had been seeking a leader to progress the existing university strategy.
“Professor Vanderlelie is fully committed to our Strategic Plan and the vision launched earlier this year,” Mr Fraser said.
“This appointment does not signal a change in direction. It signals the energy required to deliver on our strategy in a way that focuses on students.”
Professor Vanderlelie worked at Griffith from 2008-2018, working her way up from Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry to being an IRU Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, before moving to La Trobe in 2019. After eight years in Melbourne, she will be moving back to home turf.
She started studying a Biomedical Science at Griffith’s Gold Coast Campus in 1997, emerging with her PhD in 2005.
“From the first day I stepped onto the Gold Coast campus 30 years ago, it felt like home. You could feel being part of a genuine community,” Professor Vanderlelie said.
“I’m energised by the Griffith we are today and excited for a future where people belong, where they are trusted to be ambitious, where diverse voices help us see problems differently, and where ideas create opportunity.”
While the Griffith chair has now been filled, there are still multiple opportunities for Vice-Chancellors in waiting, all bringing their own interesting sets of challenges and opportunities – notably at Professor Vanderlelie’s former employer, Deakin, Charles Darwin University and ANU.