The Vice-Chancellor and President of The Australian National University (ANU), Professor Brian Schmidt AC, has announced the appointment of the new ANU Provost.
One of Australia's most experienced and outstanding university leaders, Professor Mike Calford, will take up the position in March 2018.
Professor Calford, who was appointed following a global search, is currently the Provost of the University of Tasmania, and has served in senior leadership in Australian higher education for more than 15 years.
As ANU Provost, Professor Calford will become the senior deputy to the Vice-Chancellor, be the University's chief academic officer, and take responsibility for leading delivery of the ANU Strategic Plan.
In making the announcement to the University community, Professor Schmidt highlighted Professor Calford's breadth of experience in university leadership.
"I am grateful to have appointed someone so exceptionally qualified to become Provost of our national university," Professor Schmidt said.
"Mike brings remarkable depth and insight to his leadership, having managed most aspects of a university's activities, from education and research to international and operational matters.
"At every level - as an educator, researcher, head of school, dean, and as a senior executive - Mike has demonstrated his strategic capacity, his collegiality, his determination, and his ability to deliver excellence."
Professor Calford said he was delighted and honoured to join ANU as Provost.
"ANU is one of the world's great universities, with an ambitious and inspiring strategy to serve Australia as its national university," he said.
"I look forward to helping the Vice-Chancellor and the University deliver on the ANU Strategic Plan over the coming years, and being part of this fine academic community."
Professor Calford's previous leadership roles included Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Newcastle for five years, strongly growing its research capacity to a top-10 ERA showing in 2012, and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health and Medical Research) at the University of Wollongong.
Professor Calford has been Provost at the University of Tasmania since 2014, where he has been responsible for the whole of the university's academic enterprise, and helped win state and federal government funding for a transformational $300 million campus relocation project that is focused on harnessing the power of education to change lives.
In addition to his university leadership career, Mike Calford is a leading researcher in the field of neuroscience. After receiving a doctorate at Monash University, Mike held research and teaching roles at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, and at ANU. He also worked overseas at the University of Oxford, the University of California Irvine and City University of New York.
During his academic career, Professor Calford received many prestigious research fellowships and awards, including a Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship.
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