Professor Michelle Lincoln will be the next deputy vice-chancellor academic of the University of Canberra. Photo: University of Canberra.
Professor Michelle Lincoln will succeed Professor Geoff Crisp as the next deputy vice-chancellor academic of the University of Canberra (UC).
Most recently, she served as the executive dean of UC’s Faculty of Health in a career spanning more than three decades and various academic postings.
In her new role, she will lead UC’s academic program of work, which encompasses a vision of transforming the education offering and growing the student cohort.
Professor Lincoln said her new position was central to bringing to life UC’s Connected strategy, which she helped develop in a way that provided clarity and direction.
“To meet the aspirations of Connected, we will need transparency, coupled with a principled and people-focused approach that includes both compassion and bravery,” Professor Lincoln said.
“Higher education is a form of social justice, and educational equality can change life trajectories for our students and their families, which means that our students need to remain central to our thinking and decision-making.”
Professor Lincoln also co-led the implementation of UC’s Sport Strategy and is currently chair of the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences and a member of various other health boards and groups.
She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal papers, as well as books and book chapters, variously funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council and NSW Government. Most recently, her work has informed the rollout of the NDIS in rural areas and is being extended to investigate allied health service delivery models in rural and remote Aboriginal communities.
Professor Lincoln has also won university and national teaching awards for her speech pathology expertise and is a fellow of Speech Pathology Australia and principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
“I have gained a deep understanding of the challenges faced by faculties, academic and professional staff, faculty leadership teams, researchers and students, and I feel that I am well placed to take on a new role where I can tap into this experience to support and further develop the faculties at UC,” she said.
“I will seek to build connections across the faculties and professional staff teams and foster multidisciplinary teamwork, courses and research while embedding our values into our ways of working, our relationships with one another and, most importantly, in the way we educate and engage our students.”
UC vice-chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon said Professor Lincoln would bring a depth and breadth of university experience into her new role.
“Following a competitive international search to fill the position, this is a deserving promotion for a highly respected member of the university’s senior leadership team,” he said.
Professor Lincoln will take up her new appointment when Professor Crisp retires at the end of October.
