ANU announces new Provost

Professor Rebekah Brown FASSA has been appointed Provost and Senior Vice-President of The Australian National University (ANU).

Professor Brown will join ANU after more than a decade in senior academic leadership at Monash University, where she championed equity and inclusion, drove significant increases in research revenue and performance, and founded innovative initiatives to support staff and students to ensure capability development and excellence.

A prolific researcher, Professor Brown has published 220 papers in renowned journals including Nature and Science, and has served on the editorial boards of several research publications. She has attracted a career total of $123 million in competitive external research revenue as Chief Investigator of multiple research projects.

A strong advocate for inclusion, equality, diversity and First Nations self-determination at Monash, Professor Brown pioneered and led innovative programs and mentoring schemes, and has set institutional conditions to support greater representation of women and Indigenous people, and other underrepresented voices within the Monash community.

Professor Brown leaves Monash having elevated the university’s standing as a renowned research institution in Australia and around the world.

Announcing the appointment, ANU Vice-Chancellor and President Genevieve Bell said she was delighted to welcome Professor Brown to the University. 

“Rebekah is a highly accomplished academic and a strategic, analytical and compassionate leader, and I am thrilled that she is joining us here at the Australian National University,” Professor Bell said. 

“My colleagues and I are very much looking forward to welcoming her into our community. I know she shares our commitment to being a university of quality and distinction and also to fulfilling our mission as the national university.” 

Under Professor Brown’s executive leadership, Monash University’s annual research revenue increased by 70 per cent over five years and ranked first in the Go8 for research quality.

She was also the founding Director of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments project supported by the Wellcome Trust, an ambitious transdisciplinary research program working at the intersections of health, environment, and water and sanitation.

Prior to her work in the higher education sector, she was a practising civil engineer and worked for leading firms across the United Kingdom, Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Professor Brown said she was looking forward to relocating to Canberra with her family and excited about joining the ANU community. 

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to take on this new strategic role under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell,” she said. 

“As Australia’s only national university, ANU is a unique and complex institution, with a global reputation for excellence.

“I’m excited to collaborate with leaders and colleagues across the University to ensure we continue to deliver a world-class experience to our staff and students, while carrying out the University’s mission to solve global problems and drive innovation.” 

Professor Brown will start her role at ANU on 17 June 2024.