| Departing Dean of Science Professor Rob Whelan (right), who is taking... Departing Dean of Science Professor Rob Whelan (right), who is taking over as President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai, with his successor Professor Will Price | 
| Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton (left) farewells Professor Ro... Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton (left) farewells Professor Rob Whelan, pictured with his wife Chris and daughter Megan | 
| Faculty of Arts Dean Professor Andrew Wells pays tribute to Professor... Faculty of Arts Dean Professor Andrew Wells pays tribute to Professor Whelan’s leadership role among UOW’s Deans |
Departing Dean ‘still part of the family’
21 Aug 2008 | Nick Hartgerink
The University of Wollongong community this week farewelled Faculty of Science Dean Professor Rob Whelan, who is leaving after 26 years to take over as President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Sutton pointed out that while Professor Whelan was leaving Wollongong, he hadn’t been lost to the University.
“This is a night of mixed emotions, but it should be a happy occasion, because we’ve still got him - albeit in another branch of the family,” Professor Sutton said.
The Vice-Chancellor paid tribute to Professor Whelan’s strong commitment to UOW over 26 years, and said he had made a great contribution to the University and to the nation through his expertise in biology and bushfire ecology.
“Rob has held many positions in his 26 years at the University, from lecturer to Dean and then the senior Dean,” Professor Sutton said. “He has made a great contribution to this University, but he has also played a leadership role in the State and Federally. It is a measure of the man that he has been asked to play a role in many State and federal reviews.
“Rob is certainly a visionary with great leadership qualities … I couldn’t think of a better choice for the role of President of the UOWD.”
Professor Will Price, who has taken over as Science Dean, said Professor Whelan would be greatly missed in the Faculty.
“In his six years as Dean Rob has done a fantastic job, and taken the Faculty from strength to strength,” Professor Price said. “He’s a great leader, but on top of that he’s a great bloke.”
Faculty of Arts Dean Professor Andrew Wells, speaking on behalf of UOW’s Deans, paid tribute to Professor Whelan’s leadership role among them.
“Rob has provided us with a model of reason, analysis, debate and exceptional leadership,” Professor Wells said. “Rob personifies the ‘Wollongong way’. He has great credibility as an intellectual, combined with great kindness and integrity. He has always had a way of making this a better place.”
Professor Whelan said he had joined a small, young University in 1982 as a junior staff member, on his father’s advice. His father (a Vice-Chancellor of Universities in Australian and England) had told him that joining a young university was a great career move because it would be “great fun, full of great challenges, and exciting”.
“My father was right,” Professor Whelan said. “I was a junior member of staff but was given important responsibilities right from the start. That is still the case. That attitude (of encouraging young staff and sharing responsibility) has remained, even though the University has grown so much,” he said. “Much of the credit for that culture goes to Gerard.”
Professor Whelan thanked his Faculty members and staff for their support and praised his fellow Deans for their collaborative approach. “You have made this a really rewarding job,” he said.
Professor Whelan starts his new role in Dubai on 31 August.
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