Paul William Wellings is an Australian/British

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and long serving university leader. He is notable for his past service as

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 ...

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

(2012–21), Vice-Chancellor of

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

(2002–12) and Deputy Chief Executive of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (1999-2002).

Education

Wellings was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

on 1 November 1953 and grew up in India and Nigeria. He was educated at

Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS is also in the Unit ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(BSc Joint Hons, Zoology and Botany),

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

(MSc Advanced Ecology) and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(UEA) (PhD, 1980). His PhD "Qualitative changes in the regulation of Sycamore aphid numbers" was supervised by Professor Tony Dixon.

Career

He was awarded a NERC Personal Fellowship on life-history theory at UEA. In 1981 Wellings resigned his fellowship to take up a position in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as a research ecologist at the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

(CSIRO), specialising in

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

. He was appointed Chief of CSIRO's Entomology Division in 1995. In 1997 he was seconded to the Australian Commonwealth Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources as Head of the Science and Innovation Policy Division and in 1999 returned to CSIRO as Deputy Chief Executive. In 2002 he moved to England to take up the position of vice-chancellor at Lancaster University. He held this post until his appointment at the University of Wollongong, NSW. He has been of Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Cumbrian Rural Regeneration Company, the Bundanon Trust, University of Wollongong Global Enterprises, the General Sir John Monash Foundation and the Global Foundation. During his academic career he was a board member of

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

and chair of UUK's International and European Policy Committee, and a board member of

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

(HEFCE) and Chair of HEFCE's Research Committee, Chair of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, convener of NSW Vice-Chancellors Committee.

Honours and distinctions

Wellings was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to higher education. and Deputy lieutenant of Lancashire (2009).Four new deputy lieutenants for Lancashire appointed
/ref> In 2018, Wellings was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Lancaster (2014), Surrey (2019), Wollongong (2021) and East Anglia (2022), and was awarded the 2020 CASE Asia-Pacific Leadership Award. Portraits of Wellings hang at Lancaster University ( Tai-Shan Schierenberg, 2011) and the University of Wollongong ( Sally Robinson, 2021). The University of Wollongong's Molecular Sciences building is named in honour of its former Vice-Chancellor.

Personal life

Wellings is married to linguist and designer, Annette Schmidt.

Footnotes

References

Lancaster University VCHEFCE page on Paul Wellings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellings, Paul 1953 births Living people People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of East Anglia British ecologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire People associated with Lancaster University Vice-chancellors of the University of Wollongong Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society