2006 Media Releases
Wednesday, 1 February 2006
New head of La Trobe University Albury-Wodonga campus
Dr Julie Jackson has been appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor and Director of La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus.
Dr Jackson – formerly Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibilities for Quality Enhancement and Community Engagement of the University – took up her post on Monday, 30 January.
She succeeds Professor John Hill, who retires from the University after 35 years, eleven of them at the Albury-Wodonga campus.
Announcing the appointment, La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Stoddart, said Dr Jackson is well-known in Albury-Wodonga, having served there as campus Deputy Director from 2000 to 2002.
Dr Jackson holds the degrees Bachelor of Economics, Master of Economics, Doctor of Philosophy and Diploma in Education from Monash University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Econometrics from the University of New England.
Dr Jackson was appointed to La Trobe University in 1991. In 1997 she became Head of the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the Albury-Wodonga campus where she helped develop the University International Hotel School at Beechworth, before becoming Deputy Director of the Albury-Wodonga campus.
In her role as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Quality) Dr Jackson developed the quality framework for the University and led the preparations for the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) audit which was completed in 2005. Within the Community Engagement portfolio she has led the development of the University’s Community Engagement strategy, incorporating regional community engagement.
Dr Jackson has secured research grants from the Australian Research Council for a project on business clusters on the Murray River, and from the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism for a study of regional tourism development.
Dr Jackson is a member of the Victorian Ministerial Higher Education Advisory Committee, and serves on national committees related to quality enhancement and community engagement.
She was a member of the Victorian Ministerial Regional Higher Education Working Party and chaired the implementation committee for the La Trobe University Council Review of Regional Operations.
Professor Hill, who has also held positions at universities in Sweden, the USA and Singapore, retires from La Trobe University with a distinguished record as an academic and administrator.
Professor Hill is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and Fellow of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry.
A Bachelor of Science first class honours and PhD graduate from the University of London, he was awarded the prestigious degree, Doctor of Science, from that University in 1992 in recognition of his major contribution to thermochemistry.
He has just completed a PhD in Chemical Education from the University of Melbourne and intends to pursue his interests in thermochemistry and chemical education.
His recent research has centred on assessment of water quality, the quality of urban run-off, thermal analysis of solid waste materials and the electrochemical analysis of metals in water.
He joined La Trobe University in 1970, transferring to the Department of Environmental Management and Ecology at Albury-Wodonga in 1995 where he acted as Head of the Department before becoming Head of Campus in 2000.