Vice-Chancellor and President
Deakin University
Dr Irene Irvine
Irene joined Deakin University in 2004 after over 20 years in both public and private sector employment in Canberra and Melbourne. Born and educated in Scotland, Irene came to Australia in 1970 to undertake postgraduate studies in science.
From the mid seventies to the early eighties Irene held a series of progressively more senior appointments in secondary education in Victoria and the ACT before returning to Melbourne in 1983 to a role in chemical education at the University of Melbourne.
Throughout the eighties Irene was a highly sought after presenter and chemical educator and published several papers on chemical education. She was one of the seven writers of the highly acclaimed Academy of Science’s national chemistry textbook Elements of Chemistry as well as the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s Victorian and Tasmanian youth lecturer where she presented entertaining chemistry lectures to thousands of school students across Victoria and Tasmania. Irene was also the editor of an extensive study of Australian chemistry, 'Chemistry in an Australian Context'. Her contribution to chemistry education was recognised by her being awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a Chemical Education Citation and a Radford lectureship.
In 1987 Irene left chemical education and moved into university policy and planning by accepting a position in the Vice-Chancellor’s office at Swinburne University. Here she was involved in devising and overseeing the initial implementation of new strategic initiatives designed to make significant contributions to achieving Swinburne’s long-term corporate objectives.
Between 1989 and 1993 Irene held the role of Manager, Public Affairs and Communication with CSIRO’s Institute of Industrial Technologies. Responsibilities included initiating and managing public relations and marketing drives to improve the penetration of the Institute’s activities within the corporate sector and improve its image with government and the general public. Irene was one of the driving forces behind CSIRO’s successful Project Ambassador Program as well as its touring exhibition and business press initiatives.
In 1994 Irene was persuaded to rejoin the University of Melbourne where she held a number of senior executive appointments. During her period at the University she was responsible for establishing and running the University’s landmark School of Graduate Studies development as well as making the university’s national and international student recruitment, extension, admissions and scholarship activities national benchmarks.
In 1999 Irene joined the large national recruitment agency Morgan and Banks (later TMP) where she managed several of their key accounts and became their national business development manager for financial services, successfully winning several tenders and growing the profitability of the business.
Irene has always been strongly committed to social justice, especially furthering the cause of women. She has run conferences for women in non-traditional areas, established the Women in Chemistry Network, been a social activist and has worked in a pro bono capacity for many years for not-for profit-groups. From 2001-2003 Irene sought to enhance her contribution by becoming the General Manager of an innovative disability services company, Interact Australia, that was seeking to enlarge its services to the disadvantaged.
Irene holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Melbourne,
a BSc (1st Class Honours) from the University of Glasgow as well
as postgraduate qualifications in education and management.
