La Trobe Business School Executive
The La Trobe Business School is led by an executive team committed to enhancing business learning through education and research that is innovative, engaged, responsible and sustainable.
Professor Colin Higgins
Professor Colin Higgins is Dean of the La Trobe Business School and Professor of Management. He is an experienced university leader who has held a range of strategic leadership roles focused on enhancing learning and teaching, advancing impactful research, and strengthening industry and community engagement. Professor Higgins is a highly accomplished academic and leader who has played a key role in driving innovation in education, research and organisational performance. He has led through periods of significant change and has particular expertise in how organisations respond to social and environmental challenges. His work has explored the opportunities and challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence, digital technologies and innovation, with a focus on how organisations can effectively integrate human and artificial intelligence. Professor Higgins has held leadership roles in international scholarly organisations, served as editor of leading academic journals, and supervised numerous PhD candidates to completion. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an experienced Non-Executive Director.
Dr David Walker
Dr David Walker is the Deputy Dean and the Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, in the La Trobe Business School, where he leads the strategy to uplift academic programs and the student experience. He is passionate about teaching and learning and has received several awards including the Executive Dean’s Teaching Award in 2014, and Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Award’s in 2015 and 2019. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has led research in teaching the economics curriculum in secondary schools in Victoria and in higher education. Dr Walker has had many leaderships roles in the La Trobe Business School including Director of Learning and Teaching and Academic Program Director (Partnerships). His research interests are in forest, agricultural and resource economics and in the economics of climate change.
Associate Professor Sophia Duan
Associate Professor Sophia Duan is the Associate Dean, Research and Industry Engagement in the La Trobe Business School. She provides strategic leadership in research, research training, and industry engagement to support research excellence among staff and research centres within the School. Associate Professor Duan is an accomplished researcher in business information systems, collaborating with government, industry and community organisations to conduct practice-driven academic research that informs real-world applications in technology adoption, digital transformation, digital work and human-AI interactions. She was named one of Australia’s Top 25 Analytics Leaders by IAPA in 2022 and serves on the executive committee of the Global Responsible AI Community and as the Victorian Vice Chapter Lead of AI4Diversity.
Dr Helen Yang
Dr Helen Yang is the Associate Dean for Academic Partnerships in the La Trobe Business School. A Senior Fellow of Advance Higher Education (UK) and the International Education Association of Australia, and a fully qualified CPA, Dr Yang brings extensive experience across Asia-Pacific countries, holding leadership roles such as Transnational Program Coordinator, Discipline Head at Victoria University, and Accounting Program Director at La Trobe University. Her interdisciplinary research bridges theory and practice, focusing on corporate sustainability, financial reporting in emerging economies and international education. Helen’s work is published in leading international journals. Helen has also been successful in securing prestigious grants, including the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching grants, CPA Australia’s Global Research Perspectives Grant, and the Global Impact Grant from Advance Higher Education.
Professor Clare D’Souza
Professor Clare D’Souza is Head of the Department of Management and Marketing and a distinguished scholar in sustainability, marketing, and consumer behaviour. She brings a rich multidisciplinary background to her teaching across Marketing Strategy, Consumer Behaviour, and Social and Environmental Marketing, delivered both locally and internationally. Her research output exceeds 200+ publications, recognised globally for integrating sustainability with marketing and managerial practice, and is listed in the 2% Elsevier Stanford’s list of the top 2% of global scientists. Beyond academia, she has advised government and industry organisations in Australia and overseas. Professor D’Souza’s contributions have earned significant recognition, including an OLT National Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning and a United Nations (Vic) commendation for impactful sustainability-focused research and curriculum design.
Professor Darren Henry
Professor Darren Henry is Head of the Department of Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics and Finance. Professor Henry has extensive experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research student supervision. He is renowned for authentic teaching and learning, and capstone subject development including being awarded a 2020 Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Professor Henry has supervised over 30 PhD students and 40 Honours students to successful completion. His research interests include mergers and acquisitions, empirical corporate finance, corporate governance, behavioural finance and market-based accounting issues. He has over 40 publications in leading Australian and international journals and serves on the editorial boards of the European Management Journal and the Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change.