Political economist Nicola Phillips will lead Australia’s newest public university after being named incoming vice-chancellor of Adelaide University.

Phillips, currently provost at the University of Melbourne, will take on the role at Adelaide University – the result of a merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia – at the start of its inaugural academic year in January.

A former vice-principal for education at King’s College London, Phillips said she was “thrilled” to join the institution “at a time of unmatched potential and possibilities”.

“I look forward to leading Adelaide University and establishing the institution as a trailblazer for change, where education and research of the highest quality reach into all corners of our society.”

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The university said Phillips’ appointment had followed a “comprehensive global search” marked by a “high-quality candidate field”. The vice-chancellors of the constituent institutions, the University of Adelaide’s Peter Høj and the University of South Aaustralia’s David Lloyd, ruled themselves out of contention in January.

Former UniSA chancellor Pauline Carr, who chairs the Adelaide University Transition Council, said Phillips had guided “significant step changes across contemporary academic delivery, student access and equity, Aboriginal knowledges, online education and cultural inclusivity” during a 30-year higher education career in the UK and Australia.

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Philips, who also served as interim vice-chancellor at Melbourne, has lent a public face to the institution’s responses to contentious issues including staff underpayment, rampant casualisation and sexual misconduct.

Melbourne said Phillips had “resolutely pursued” matters of “equity, inclusion and conduct” during her time at the university. Vice-chancellor Emma Johnston said Phillips had been “instrumental in maintaining stability and momentum” at the institution.

Her elevation means that from next year, five of Australia’s Group of Eight universities will be led by women.

Meanwhile, the chief of New Zealand’s highest ranked university has announced her intention to depart after six years in the role.

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University of Auckland vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater is set to leave in mid-2026, following a turbulent period that included her installation in the middle of Covid-19 lockdowns, and institutional soul-searching over the place of Māori cultural knowledge in higher education.

Freshwater was also involved in a protracted legal dispute with high-profile microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, who alleged that Auckland had failed to shield her from threats and abuse over her coronavirus commentary. The New Zealand Employment Court found that the university had not violated Wiles’ academic freedom but that it “should have moved more quickly” in implementing protective measures.

In late May, the court the university to pay Wiles NZ$205,000 (£92,000) in compensation. Wiles had sought NZ$380,000, but the judge found the request excessive because the microbiologist had not succeeded “on all points” of her lawsuit.

Auckland chancellor Cecilia Tarrant said Freshwater would “leave the university in a position of strength”, having “sustained its global positioning” and maintained “solid” financials. “We are grateful that she has given us an extended notice period,” Tarrant told staff.

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Freshwater said Auckland must remain a comprehensive university, offering “a wide range of options” for students and researchers. “The nature of the world’s great challenges requires contributions from all disciplines,” she said.

“I believe, unlike many parts of a polarising world, that New Zealanders continue to value what we offer our communities and broader society.”

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com