Drawn to Adelaide by international agenda

Appointments

Professor Kent Anderson has been appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) at the University of Adelaide.

Professor Anderson is currently Director of the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University (ANU) and will take up his new role in February 2012, following the retirement of Professor John Taplin.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor James McWha said Professor Anderson was highly respected as a bold and innovative leader with a passion for internationalisation in the higher education sector.

"We are delighted to welcome Professor Anderson to Adelaide to lead the University's international agenda. In a city that genuinely embraces a dynamic and diverse student population, this role offers tremendous scope to build on our strong reputation for attracting students from overseas," Professor McWha said.

"Professor Anderson is joining us at a time of significant change in the higher education sector, nationally and internationally. His breadth of experience in universities across the globe and his understanding of the complexities of global education will bring valuable expertise to our international agenda."

Professor Anderson has had a broad range of experiences in the corporate sector in addition to his formidable list of academic achievements.

After completing his tertiary studies in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, he worked as a marketing manager with a US regional airline, before practicing as a commercial lawyer in Hawaii, and then taking up an academic post as associate professor at Hokkaido University School of Law. He has also been a visiting professor at Waseda, Nagoya, Kyushu, Doshisha and Chuo Universities in Japan.

He has read Law, Politics, Economics and Asian Studies at Oxford University, Washington University, Kobe University and Middlebury College.

Professor Anderson said that having been a university student on three continents, he had firsthand experience of the transformative nature of studying overseas and was looking forward to increasing opportunities for students at the University of Adelaide to study abroad.

"I am delighted to be joining University of Adelaide," Professor Anderson said. "I am very impressed with the University's commitment to the international agenda.

"Universities are special places that have a unique role within society," he said. "With that in mind, I was deeply impressed by theUniversity of Adelaide's immediate offer of assistance to the University of Canterbury after the Christchurch earthquake. That is the kind of international institution I want to work for and the values that are important in fulfilling a modern university's mission in a globalised yet volatile world."

As well as being the Foundation Director of the School of Culture, History and Language in ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific, Professor Anderson holds a joint appointment with the ANU College of Law, having led the Faculty of Asian Studies as Director from 2007-2009.

Professor Anderson said he was looking forward to moving to South Australia with his family.

"The Adelaide Festival, WOMAD, the sporting events, the food are not only things we are looking forward to personally, they are the distinct features of Adelaide that gives it an enormous advantage when connecting the university internationally," he said.

Story by Kate Husband