Professor S. Bruce Dowton has been appointed the next Vice-Chancellor and President of Macquarie University, the Chancellor, The Hon. Michael Egan, announced.

 

Professor Dowton is currently Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and until recently was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Partners Harvard Medical International.

 

Professor Dowton is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales where he was Dean of the School of Medicine between 1998 and 2005. During that time, he was a member of the Board of St. Vincent’s and Mater Health Sydney, Chair of the Deans of Australian Medical Schools, and Chair of the Medical Training and Education Council of New South Wales.

 

Mr Egan said Prof. Dowton had been chosen from an exceptionally strong field of applicants from Australia and overseas for his capacity to continue Macquarie’s rise. He will build upon a successful strategy of leveraging the University’s significant land holdings in order to invest heavily in research, learning and teaching, new facilities and in developing mutually beneficial relationships with industry.

 

“He will be taking over from Professor Steven Schwartz who, after more than six years at the helm, will be leaving Macquarie University in excellent shape, both academically and financially. It is now one of the world’s great universities.”

 

Mr Egan said Professor Dowton had a stellar international reputation.

 

“In the past few years he has led or overseen project teams in more than thirty countries advising on diverse aspects of healthcare and higher education.”

 

“His academic and professional appointments and work have spanned the globe, including Australia, USA, Norway, China, Scotland, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Oman, Kazakhstan, Greece, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.”

 

“He is a passionate and visionary leader, who is committed to ‘the pursuit of knowledge and learning as a key to improving the human condition’.”

 

Professor Dowton will take up his position later this year, becoming only the fifth Vice-Chancellor in Macquarie University’s 48-year history.