Professor John Dewar AO, former Vice-Chancellor and President of La Trobe University (2012-2023) has been awarded the prestigious 2024 CASE Asia-Pacific Leadership Award, recognising his efforts in promoting and supporting education and institutional advancement. The CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Award acknowledges Professor Dewars visionary leadership and commitment to the broader tertiary education sector.
Professor Dewar AO, who was one of Australia’s longest serving Vice-Chancellors and who oversaw a decade of significant achievements at La Trobe University, accepted the award which was presented in Singapore at the CASE Asia-Pacific Advancement Conference.
“This award is recognition of the vital importance of higher education, and of the talented team at La Trobe University. I’m fortunate to have worked with some wonderful people who have made a positive impact on students, families and communities across the State of Victoria,” Professor Dewar said.
Professor Dewar’s key achievements at La Trobe included:
- Significant growth of alumni donations and bequests from $1 million in 2012, to receiving one of the single largest gifts to an Australian university in 2022, with a $42 million gift to support La Trobe’s autism research.
- Increasing research income by 149 per cent from $41 million in 2012 to $102 million in 2022 – the first-time research income has exceeded $100 million in the University’s history.
- Continuously improving the University’s outstanding international reputation as reflected in major international university rankings.
- Establishing new partnerships across business, sport, industry, and the arts, including with Optus, Cisco, Medibank, Melbourne City Football Club, Carlton Football Club, the National Gallery of Victoria, The Australian Ballet, and the State Library of Victoria.
- Establishment of the La Trobe University Press in 2017, which is now regarded as one of the nation’s most important scholarly publishers.
- Becoming the first Australian university to commit to divesting from fossil fuels with a target to reach net zero by 2029.
As Victoria’s only true state-wide university, La Trobe’s regional footprint has significantly grown over the past decade, providing regional communities with pathways and qualifications to meet student demand and workforce need addition to his role as Vice-Chancellor and President of La Trobe University, Professor Dewar also served as Chair of Universities Australia, Chair of the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) network and served on several Ministerial advisory boards.
In 2020, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his distinguished service to education through leadership roles in the universities sector, and to professional organisations.
Professor Dewar is now a partner at KordaMentha and remains a Board member of the Foundation for Australian Studies in China (FASIC).
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