Two former Victorian Premiers, the head of the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council and the Vice-President of IBM’s research division, are among the 12 current appointments in the inaugural round of Enterprise Professors.

In addition, to deepen the University’s commitment to research translation and industry collaboration, the University has also created a new Vice-Principal (Enterprise) and appointed Doron Ben-Meir to this new role. Mr Ben-Meir is currently the Executive Director of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation. He previously headed up the Federal agency, Commercialisation Australia. Prior to that he worked in venture capital & private equity and co-founded a number of successful start-up companies.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor James McCluskey said the roles will support the National Innovation and Science Agenda.

“The question of how universities and industry can best collaborate has been a key focus of policymakers and academics for years. Having people with significant expertise in business development working alongside faculty researchers is part of the solution and one we are committed to supporting fully.”

Provost, Professor Margaret Sheil highlighted that “…the new Enterprise roles have been created to broaden and enrich the University’s academic community. The appointments draw in people from diverse industries and professions, collectively bringing with them deep leadership knowledge, skills and networks that will create new opportunities and inspire our research community.”

“The University has an ambitious program to double its industry-related research outcome by 2020 and grow our partnerships with industry, government, external research agencies and community partners,” said Professor McCluskey. “These roles will help ensure our research output is targeted at solving problems and making an impact, helping us achieve these dual aims.”

The current list of Melbourne Enterprise Professors, and the faculty in which they will be based, follows below. Further appointments will continue to be made as faculties identify suitable candidates.

1. Joanna Batstone (Melbourne School of Engineering)
2. Colin McLeod (Faculty of Business and Economics)
3. John Pollaers (Faculty of Business and Economics)
4. Lisa Paul AO PSM (Faculty of Arts)
5. Don Henry (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning)
6. Ted Baillieu (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning)
7. John Brumby (Faculty of Business and Economics)
8. Jurg von Kanel (Melbourne School of Engineering)
9. Manfred Grohmann (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning)
10. Patrick Maes (Melbourne School of Engineering)
11. David Morgan AO (Faculty of Business and Economics)
12. Andrew Cuthbertson AO (Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences)