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Professor James McWha AO,
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About the Vice-Chancellor and President
Professor James McWha is the University of Adelaide's 19th Vice-Chancellor since 1874. He took up his appointment on 5 August 2002 following a highly successful term as Vice-Chancellor and President of Massey University in New Zealand from 1996–2002. At the time of his recruitment to Adelaide, Professor McWha was also Chair of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee.
Professor McWha has an outstanding record as a teacher, researcher, manager of research institutes, academic administrator and communicator. A native of Northern Ireland, he graduated BSc and BAgr (with Honours in Agricultural Botany) from Queen's University Belfast in 1969 and 1970. He received his PhD from Glasgow University in 1973, prior to taking up an appointment at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where a period as a lecturer in the Department of Botany was followed by a term as Head of the Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences.
In 1985 he returned to Northern Ireland to take up a joint appointment as Professor and Head of Agricultural Botany at Queen's University Belfast, and Deputy Chief Scientific Officer in the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture. In 1989 he was appointed Director of DSIR Fruit and Trees in the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in 1992 became foundation Chief Executive Officer of HortResearch (the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd), a world-class fruit science company tasked with the commercialisation of publicly and privately funded research and development, including an active plant breeding program.
Professor McWha is actively involved in the higher education sector on a global level. He is the 2011–2013 president of Academic Consortium 21, an international network of leading research universities from around the world. The University of Adelaide will host the 6th AC21 International Forum in 2012.
He has served on the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities both for New Zealand (2001) and Australia (2005–2007). He has been Honorary Treasurer of the ACU since 2007, he continues to serve on the ACU Council and Executive Committee. Beyond the Commonwealth, he was Secretary-General of the International Association of University Presidents from 2002–05. He played a formative role in the development of the New Zealand universities' quality assurance system, and was a Board member of the Australian Universities Quality Agency from 2003–2009.
His past and present directorships include the Board of the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology, the Board of the former New Zealand Dairy Research Institute (now Fonterra Research Centre), the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand, and numerous public and private companies including Industrial Research Limited and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. He is presently a director of the Group of Eight Ltd, the coalition of Australia's leading universities, and represents the University of Adelaide on Universities Australia, the peak body representing the Australian university sector.
Under Professor McWha’s leadership, the University of Adelaide has developed and pursued interrelated strategies for growth, great research, and strong engagement with Government, industry and the wider community. The University has doubled in size to around 25,000 students, while Government-funded student places have increased by more nearly 50% since 2003, running parallel to the internationalisation of the curriculum and the student body. A four-year, $400 million capital program is now in its last phase.
Professor McWha was among the citizens of South Australia to be recognised in 2003 by the award of the Centenary Medal for his services to education, and in May 2004 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from Massey University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Massey and his advocacy for New Zealand's education system. He was made an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to higher education in December 2011.
