Alison Watkins to be the new University of Tasmania chancellor
The University of Tasmania has chosen one of its own, businesswoman Alison Watkins, to lead it into the next era.
The University of Tasmania has appointed its first woman chancellor, Reserve Bank board member and recently departed Coca-Cola Amatil group managing director Alison Watkins, who has described her new role as “a way to give back”. Ms Watkins is an alumnus of the university, and took a bachelor of commerce degree there in 1984.
UTas announced the appointment on Tuesday, a week before the departure of outgoing chancellor, former Tasmanian premier Michael Field.
“The university’s mission of doing good for Tasmania, and from here making a contribution to the world, is inspiring and I am very excited to have the opportunity to play a part in that,” Ms Watkins said.
“I have always felt my education was a great gift and I have been the recipient of many wonderful things as a result of my time at the University of Tasmania. For me this is very much an opportunity to give back.”
Selection committee chair and deputy chancellor Harvey Gibson said Ms Watkins’ “outstanding corporate and governance experience, and deeply people-centred values” would the university well in its mission “to align our … strengths with Tasmania’s challenges and opportunities.”
Mr Field said it had been a privilege to serve as chancellor since 2013.
“When I look at the landscape ahead – in Tasmania, nationally and globally – we are going to be very well placed with a leader of Alison’s extensive experience leading and governing large organisations through times of change, along with her personal commitment to the good which comes with education,” Mr Field said.
Apart from running CCA, MS Watkins is a former CEO of GrainCorp Limited and in her earlier career was a partner at international consultants McKinsey & Company and managing director of regional banking at ANZ.
She grew up on a farm in regional Tasmania and attended Sorrel District School and St Michael’s Collegiate in Hobart.
Shorten: ‘We will ensure our campus is safe for everybody’
In his first speech as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, long-serving Labor government minister Bill Shorten says ‘intolerance is not inevitable’.
Drone researcher continues fight against WMD finding
Chinese researcher Xiaolong Zhu may be ‘entirely unaware’ of how the Australian government came to the conclusion that he implicated in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, but that doesn’t matter for visa rejection, the government says.