New Swinburne University of Technology executives announced

Three executive appointments have been announced by Swinburne University of Technology today following a comprehensive internal and external recruitment process across the portfolios of Academic; Education, Experience & Employability; and Research.

The appointments are:

• Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Chief Academic Officer: Professor Chris Pilgrim
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education, Experience & Employability: Professor Sarah Maddison
• Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research: Professor Karen Hapgood

Speaking of the appointments, Swinburne’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Pascale Quester said she was delighted to have appointed three outstanding individuals to each of these positions.

“Both Professor Chris Pilgrim and Professor Sarah Maddison have long-established careers at Swinburne and have demonstrated the excellent capabilities required to lead Swinburne into our next chapter. As we build Swinburne to be the prototype of a new and exciting university, Chris, a Fellow of the ACS, and Sarah, a Fellow of the ASA, have unique strategic skills that will ensure that Swinburne is the go-to university for students wanting an excellent and innovative education that prepares them for the future world of work, now,” Professor Quester said.

“I am also delighted to be welcoming Professor Karen Hapgood to lead the Research portfolio at Swinburne. Professor Hapgood is an experienced and respected executive leader, with an engineering and STEM background, a Fellow of ATSE as well as 15 years of leadership experience in the higher education sector. Karen will be joining Swinburne from Deakin University, where she is currently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment.

“We are excited to be welcoming Karen to our executive team, where she will continue to enhance Swinburne’s research endeavours, particularly in the areas of space and aerospace technology, sustainable solutions to create an innovative planet, and medical technology,” Professor Quester said.

Swinburne restructured its operations in the middle of 2021 to ensure alignment with the university’s Horizon 2025 strategy. These appointments are a critical step in the advancement of the strategy.

“Following the challenging experiences for the higher education sector over the past two years, I am looking forward to working with our revitalised leadership group to realise the university’s vision of brining people and technology together to build a better world,” Professor Quester said.

Professor Pilgrim and Professor Maddison will commence their substantive appointments immediately. Professor Hapgood will commence with Swinburne on 15 March 2022.