Andy Visser
16 October 2023: The University of Canberra has announced the appointment of Professor Michelle Lincoln as the new Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic.
Professor Lincoln is currently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Canberra and will take up her appointment when the current Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Professor Geoff Crisp, retires at the end of October.
“Professor Lincoln brings a depth and breadth of university experience into her new role as DVCA, including five years as the University’s Executive Dean of Health. Following a competitive international search to fill the position, this is a deserving promotion for a highly respected member of the University’s senior leadership team,” said Professor Paddy Nixon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra.
“Over a span of 30 years in multiple academic roles I have gained a deep understanding of the challenges faced by faculties, academic and professional staff, faculty leadership teams, researchers and students, and I feel that I am well placed to take on a new role where I can tap into this experience to support and further develop the Faculties at UC,” said Professor Lincoln.
Professor Lincoln has played a key role in various strategic programs and projects at the University including the development of the University’s Sport Strategy and the University’s current decadal strategy, Connected.
“I see my role as Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic as central to bringing our Connected strategy to life, in a way that provides both clarity and direction in how we can all contribute to achieving its ambitions,” said Professor Lincoln.
“I will seek to build connections across the faculties and professional staff teams and foster multidisciplinary teamwork, courses and research, while embedding our values into our ways of working, our relationships with one another, and most importantly in the way we educate and engage our students.”
In her role as the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Professor Lincoln will be leading the University’s academic program of work, which encompasses a vision of transforming the education offering and growing the student cohort.
“To meet the aspirations of Connected, we will need transparency, coupled with a principled and people-focused approach that includes both compassion and bravery,” said Professor Lincoln. “Higher education is a form of social justice, and educational equality can change life trajectories for our students and their families, which means that our students need to remain central to our thinking and decision-making.”
Further to her role at the University, Professor Lincoln is the Board Chair of the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences, a member of the ACT Health Wellbeing and Partnership Board, member of the Allied Health Leadership Alliance and the Health Professions Education Standing Group of Universities Australia. In addition, she is a mentor for Franklin Women and the Minerva Foundation.
More about Professor Lincoln: Professor Lincoln’s research has been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, and the NSW Government. She has published more than a hundred and fifty peer reviewed journal papers as well as books and book chapters. Most recently her work has developed evidence for innovative allied health service delivery models in rural areas as well as strategies for retaining allied health professionals.
At the University of Canberra Professor Lincoln has co-led the implementation of the UC Sport Strategy, a whole-of-university strategy designed to harness the power of sport for social justice, equality, inclusion, and wellbeing by focusing our efforts on women in sport and sport integrity. The Sport Strategy aims to position UC as a leading university for sport in Australia and internationally.
Professor Lincoln has won university and national teaching awards for her educational expertise. She is a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia, a Principle Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
