Higher education reviewer and steward Mary O’Kane has been named next chancellor of the University of Queensland (UQ), where she will succeed diplomat Peter Varghese.

O’Kane, who chaired the Australian Universities Accord and is chief commissioner of the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), will take up the post in July.

A “self-confessed proud Queenslander” who grew up in an inland mining town near the Tropic of Capricorn, O’Kane said she looked forward to returning to the university where she had obtained her undergraduate science degree.

“After helping to shape the Universities Accord, I’m excited to work with UQ’s community to achieve the accord’s vision for a more equitable higher education sector and recognition of the critical role universities play in supporting our nation’s economic and social prosperity,” she said in a statement.

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O’Kane is a former vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide and served as New South Wales’ inaugural chief scientist and engineer.

She runs her own consultancy and over the past two decades has conducted reviews on topics ranging from floods, fires, koalas and coal-seam gas to industry research centres, the Bureau of Meteorology and the higher education sector. “I do a lot of reviews,” she confessed, during a recent presentation at the University of Sydney.

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While legislation to establish the permanent Atec is currently before parliament, O’Kane indicated that she would not apply for the chief commissioner’s position.

She stressed that her role with the interim Atec involved no decisions about UQ or other Queensland universities.

Varghese said that as accord chair, O’Kane had “played a central role in crafting a long-term vision for the future of the sector. UQ will greatly benefit from her leadership.”

Vice-chancellor Deborah Terry thanked Varghese for his “outstanding service” during two five-year terms as chancellor. “He has led UQ through a period of immense disruption in the higher education sector and through considerable global challenge.

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“Our community will continue to benefit from his leadership and guidance over the next six months as we navigate the largest period of university reform in a generation.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com