“All organisations are expected to do more with less. For me, it’s about making every aspect of the institution work better.”
John Dewar
About
John is well known as an exemplary leader of tertiary institutions, with a long history of improving their performance academically, financially, and operationally, often by bringing about major transformations.
He has held senior leadership positions at the University of Melbourne and Griffith University and is the former Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University, where he achieved a dramatic improvement in the university’s performance.
He was also Interim Vice Chancellor at the University of Wollongong from June 2024 to February 2025.
John brings this experience to help improve organisational performance for clients in education, corporate, and government. John describes himself as an accessible leader who builds partnerships to achieve the best outcome for everyone he works with. His experience across all aspects of management is important in building connections in this regard, as well as finding solutions to complex problems in seemingly impossible situations.
John is an Officer of the Order of Australia, awarded for service to higher education and the professions.
Expertise
- Strategy development
- Governance and risk management
- Budgeting and financial management
- International partnerships and managing foreign interference risk
- Government relations, media, and crisis management
- Digital transformation
- Human resources
- Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics
Education and accreditations
- BA Jurisprudence, First Class, University of Oxford
- Bachelor of Civil Law, First Class, University of Oxford
- PhD, Griffith University
- Honorary Fellowship, Hertford College, Oxford
- Emeritus Professorship, La Trobe Law University
Memberships
- Universities Australia Board member 2016-2021; Chair May 2021- May 2023
- Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) Board member, 2015 – 2023
- Committee for Melbourne Board member, 2019 – 2023
- Foundation for Australian Studies in China (FASIC) Board member, 2019 – present
- AARNet Board member, 2018 – 2021
- Education Australia Limited (EAL) Board member, 2009 - 2018
- Universities Foreign Interference Task Force (UFIT) Member, 2019 - 2023
- Ministerial Legislation and Finance Working Group, 2014
- Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Chair of the Board, 2006 - 2009
- Family Law Council (FLC) Member, 1998 – 2001; Chair, 2001-2004
