29 May 2008 | Nick Hartgerink
Dubai appointment lights scientist’s fire
A leading Australian bushfire ecologist will soon exchange the bush for the sand dunes of the Persian Gulf after being appointed President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD).
Scientist Professor Rob Whelan will take over as head of one of Australia’s most successful off-shore university operations on 31 August.
Professor Whelan, a biologist and bushfire ecology expert, joined the University of Wollongong 25 years ago and has been Dean of the Faculty of Science since 2002.
University of Wollongong Vice-Principal (Overseas Operations) Dr James Langridge said Professor Whelan’s long and illustrious career as an academic, and more recently as an academic leader, made him an ideal choice for the key role. “Professor Whelan has a record of injecting new ideas and strategies into organisations, managing and leading senior level teams and interacting with external stakeholders at all levels,” Dr Langridge said.
The University of Wollongong’s wholly owned subsidiary ITC Ltd established UOWD in 1993. Over the past 15 years it has grown to 2500 students, and has a reputation throughout the Middle East for the strength of its undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs in Commerce, Business and Information Technology.
Professor Whelan said he was excited by UOWD’s prospects for growth and the development of new courses. “I am looking forward to building on the success UOWD has had over the past 15 years,” Professor Whelan said. “UOWD has built a very strong platform for expansion, and part of my brief is to look at the best strategic opportunities to broaden the range of courses offered.
“UOWD has a strong track record for delivering excellent postgraduate courses for people in professional transition in business and IT fields, and we’ll be building on that in other fields. For example the University has just launched an important Masters course in Engineering Management to help engineers move from the technical side of their profession to management, and we’ll be looking to do something similar in scientific research.
“But we will also be looking at opportunities to broaden the education offered into a range of areas such as Engineering, the Social Sciences and health and Society.”
Professor Whelan has had an outstanding career as a scientist, including spending time in the United States on a Fulbright Fellowship, and working in Britain and the US. He is an international authority on bushfires and author of the textbook The Ecology of Fire. In 2004 he was one of three members of an expert panel who conducted the National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management for the Australian Government.
“The Dubai role is a great opportunity professionally and personally,” Professor Whelan said. “It is a chance to help build an institution that is pretty much the same size as the University of Wollongong was when I arrived here 25 years ago. It has been wonderful being part of Wollongong’s growth, and I am looking forward to being part of the development of UOWD.”
Professor Whelan is excited about the prospect of living in Dubai. “I am sure it will be different and exciting,” he said. “I am really looking forward to immersing myself in the culture and environment, and I am sure I will find the region ecologically fascinating,” he said.
For more information, contact Professor Whelan on (02) 4221 3530 or by email on rob_whelan@uow.edu.au
Issued by the UOW Media Unit: contact Nick Hartgerink on 0418 424085 or by email on nickh@uow.edu.au
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