John Kinley Dewar (born 9 September 1959) is an Australian academic. He served as the

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of La Trobe University''Who's Who in Australia'', ConnectWeb (2018). from 2012 to 2024 and is currently the interim vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong from June 2024.

Education

He was educated at Abingdon School and

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

, where he is currently a Research Fellow.

Career

Dewar is an internationally known family law specialist. He was a member of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group from 2000 to 2001 and a former member and chair of the Family Law Council from 1998 to 2004. Before working at Griffith University, Dewar taught at the universities of Lancaster and Warwick in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and was a fellow and tutor in law at

. He was Head of Education and Training for Allen & Overy (London) from 1988 to 1990.

Griffith University

Dewar moved from the United Kingdom in 1995 to take up a professorial position in the Griffith University Law School, where he eventually became the dean of the school from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2005, he was the pro vice-chancellor for

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

and law and then became deputy vice-chancellor (academic).

University of Melbourne

Dewar moved to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in April 2009, becoming the deputy vice-chancellor (global relations). In September that year, he was appointed provost of the university, a role similar to his previous one at Griffith University. The role's focus was "on refining the Melbourne Model and ensuring successful second phase implementation of the University's graduate programs in 2011".

La Trobe University

Dewar became the sixth vice-chancellor of La Trobe University in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, in January 2012. On arrival, he declared that his goal was to ensure that La Trobe be "recognised as the natural alternative to Victoria's two Group of Eight universities, with a unique appeal other universities can't offer". In 2012, Dewar announced a plan to cut 500 subjects and 41 jobs. Dewar ran from student protestors frustrated with his plan to cut university subjects and job and escaped via a network of tunnels under the university. In 2014, Dewar announced that 350 staff would be sacked without any voluntary redundancies. In 2020 as a consequence of the effects of COVID-19 on university revenue, Dewar was one of four vice-chancellors who negotiated with the National Tertiary Education Union's leadership to deliver the Australian Universities Job Protection Framework. La Trobe staff subsequently voted to vary the university's collective agreement pursuant to the Job Protection Framework, opting to take pay cuts to protect the financial equivalent of around 225 jobs. Humanities and the arts became the subject of reductions in November 2020, with Dewar informing staff that some subjects were no longer financially viable. In 2021, Dewar consulted on a proposal to close the school of molecular science and reassign its disciplines to other schools in a bid to reduce costs. In February 2023, La Trobe chancellor the Hon John Brumby announced that, after 12 years, Dewar would conclude his term as vice-chancellor in early 2024.

University of Wollongong

Dewar took up the role of interim vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong from June 2024. On 5 September 2024 the ''Illawarra Mercury'' raised questions about conflict of interest arising from Dewar’s position as a partner at the consulting firm KordaMentha, which has been awarded contracts to review aspects of how the University of Wollongong operates.

Universities Australia

In April 2021, Dewar was elected chair of Universities Australia. In July 2022, he delivered a speech at the National Press Club arguing the case for investing in universities.

Other appointments

Dewar holds a number of other directorships including the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, the Committee for Melbourne and the Foundation for Australian Studies in China. He is also a member of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce, the University of Lincoln's 21st Century Lab Higher Education Reference Group and the Champions of Change Coalition. He is an honorary fellow of

, an adjunct professor in the Melbourne Law School and the La Trobe Law School, and a visiting professor at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

Awards

In 2020, Dewar was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day Honours List "in recognition of his distinguished service to education through leadership roles in the universities sector, and to professional organisations".

Other

In 2023, Dewar's 'Earthhouse' was featured in Season 10 (Episode 9) of '' Grand Designs Australia'', described as "a radical underground house" on 25 acres at Whittlesea, Victoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, John 1959 births Living people Australian legal scholars Allen & Overy people People educated at Abingdon School Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Academic staff of La Trobe University Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford Academic staff of Griffith University British expatriate academics British emigrants to Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Vice-chancellors of La Trobe University