Australia’s biggest university is in the market for a new boss after the incumbent was appointed state governor.

Monash University vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner has been named next Victorian governor by premier Daniel Andrews. “Throughout her celebrated academic career, Professor Gardner has broken new ground for women, created fairer and more inclusive spaces for them and held the door open for those to come after her,” he said.

The sentiments were echoed by Monash chancellor Simon McKeon. “She leaves behind a significant legacy of growth and achievement that will be felt within the Monash community for generations to come.

“The people of Victoria can be assured they will be well represented nationally and globally, and that their interests will be fiercely advocated for.”

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Professor Gardner, who led RMIT University for nine years before taking the helm at Monash in 2014, will relinquish the post on 4 August. Monash said an interim replacement would be announced before then.

University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell lauded his crosstown rival’s “profound effect on the lives of many people in Australia and around the world. A leader of the utmost integrity, Professor Gardner’s commitment to public service has ensured that Australian universities remain fundamentally important to the continuing growth of our nation.”

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Currently ranked as Australia’s top two universities, Melbourne and Monash are linked in other ways. Melbourne’s former vice-chancellor Glyn Davis is Professor Gardner’s husband, and now serves as Australia’s top civil servant in his capacity as secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Professor Gardner’s elevation includes the responsibility of officially installing Melbourne’s new chancellor, Jane Hansen.

The Group of Eight (Go8) said Professor Gardner, its former chair, had “played an integral role in public policy broadly and in shaping and nurturing Australia’s higher education sector over many decades, influencing the lives of millions around the globe”.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said Australian universities’ loss would be “a major gain for the people of Victoria. She is frank and fearless in her advice in the interests of ensuring good public policy outcomes for our research and higher education sector.”

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These sentiments were not shared by the Monash branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, with president Ben Eltham noting that Professor Gardner had presided over A$8.6 million (£4.6 million) in “wage theft”. His branch said Monash’s “unpaid student consultation case” would soon go before the Federal Court.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com