UTS appoints new Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has announced the appointment of a new Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International. Iain Watt, currently Pro Vice-Chancellor, International, at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth, will join UTS in June.

Mr Watt’s appointment follows the announcement that Celia Hurley from Curtin University will take on the new role of Vice-President, Advancement, at UTS in April.

These two new roles emerged out of a recent restructuring of senior portfolios and as the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International and Advancement, Professor William Purcell, retires after nearly a decade in the role.

“While still a relatively young university, UTS has a well-established international profile,” UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs said in announcing Mr Watt’s appointment. “It’s essential we maintain – and indeed grow – our global focus, particularly given our ambition to become a world-leading university of technology.

"We are very pleased to have secured someone as experienced and highly credentialed as Iain.”

Mr Watt has been Pro Vice-Chancellor, International, at UWA for nearly five years, having previously held senior international roles with the Australian National University.

“Representing two of Australia’s premier universities around the world gives Iain enormous networks and experiences to draw upon,” Professor Brungs said.

Mr Watt had also served the Australian Government in various capacities over the past 30 years, including eight years as Counselor then Minister-Counselor, Education, at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, and three years as Director of the Australia Education International Office in Taipei.

He was also involved in the Dawkins reforms to Australian higher education in 1987 and the development of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) while working in the Department of Education.

“Experience of this kind is rare, if not unique and will be vital in imagining and implementing UTS’s next stage of internationalisation, so we can contribute to a better world through the transformative powers of education,” Professor Brungs said.