Professor Peter Coaldrake

Recent Speaker

Chair Universities Australia

March 4, 2010

"The Higher Education Revolution: Great Ambition, Challenging Realities".

PLEASE CONTACT npc@npc.org.au for seats at this address - seat ARE available, event was previously Wed March 3.

Professor Coaldrake has held the position of Universities Australia’s Deputy Chair during 2008, and will assume the responsibilities of Chair for a period of two years from 19 May 2009.

Professor Peter Coaldrake took up his position as Vice-Chancellor of QUT in April 2003. He previously had been Deputy Vice-Chancellor in the same institution, and prior to that, served for four years as Chair (CEO) of Queensland’s Public Sector Management Commission, the body established by the Goss government to overhaul Queensland’s public sector.

Peter Coaldrake is a dual Fulbright Scholar, as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the field of politics/public policy (1980-1981), and as a Senior Scholar in the field of higher education policy and management (in 2001-2002).

Professor Coaldrake is the author or editor of a number of books and monographs, including Working the System, Government in Queensland (University of Queensland Press, 1989), and co-author (with Lawrence Stedman) of both On the Brink. Australia’s Universities Confronting their Future (University of Queensland Press, 1998), and Academic Work in the Twenty-First Century (DETYA, Occasional Paper Series 99-4). He is also a member of the Board of The Foundation for Development Cooperation Ltd.

He was appointed by the Queensland Premier as a Smart State Ambassador in 2006, and is also Executive Chair of Queensland’s 2009 Sesquicentenary Celebrations Advisory Board.

The Chief Executive of Universities Australia, Dr Glenn Withers, and the current Chair of Universities Australia, Professor Richard Larkins, congratulated Professor Coaldrake on his appointment and wished him well for the future in what will continue to be a challenging time for universities.

"Professor Coaldrake has been an active participant in the recent debates facing the higher education sector and his strong views in support of universities will ensure the continued advancement of higher education issues within Australia,” said Dr Withers.