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Prof Brigid Heywood - AARNet Board of Directors

Professor Brigid Heywood

Vice-Chancellor, University of New England

Professor Brigid Heywood is the 14th Vice-Chancellor and CEO of the University of New England (UNE), following an academic career spanning several countries.

From leadership positions in regional and online universities in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, Professor Heywood has successfully driven advances in academic excellence, research performance and engagement through innovation knowledge transfer.

Prior to joining UNE, Professor Heywood was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Tasmania (UTas), where during her time in the role, UTas’s research income lifted above $100 million for the first time. Before joining UTas Professor Heywood was at New Zealand’s Massey University as the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (2011-13) and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research), Academic and Enterprise (2013-15).

In her native United Kingdom, Professor Heywood was Pro Vice-Chancellor – Research and Enterprise (2005-2011) at The Open Universities and Pro Vice-Chancellor – Research and Enterprise (1996-2005) at Keele University. Professor Heywood joined Keele as the first woman in the UK to hold an established chair (Professor of Inorganic Materials Chemistry), aged 33, and set her foot on the first rung of her executive career as Keele’s Head of Department of Chemistry a year later.

Her first degree, from Manchester Univeristy (UK), was in Biological Sciences. She then completed her PHD – an investigation of the basic cellular processes that control biomineralisation at Liverpool University (UK).

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