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Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Mark Scott AO
Promoting and developing our University
Our Vice-Chancellor is the University's principal executive officer and is instrumental in determining our strategic direction.
The Vice-Chancellor leads the University and determines its overall direction, in close consultation with the Chancellor and other Fellows of Senate, senior leaders and the Academic Board.
Professor Mark Scott AO is the University of Sydney's 27th Vice-Chancellor. He commenced his five-year term on 19 July 2021.
“I am committed to driving transformative change that will support students and staff from all backgrounds to excel and realise their potential. I look forward to working closely with them and with industry, community and government to solve the world’s most pressing challenges and secure a prosperous future for the University of Sydney and the tertiary education sector.”
Professor Mark Scott AO
Our 27th Vice-Chancellor
Professor Mark Scott AO
BA DipEd MA Hon DLitt Sydney, MPA Harvard, Hon DBus UNSW, Hon DUniv UTS, FAICD, FRSN
Professor Mark Scott was appointed as the University’s 27th Vice-Chancellor in 2021. He is a highly respected and successful senior leader of large and complex institutions, across public service, education and the media. Under his leadership as Secretary of the NSW Department of Education (2016 to 2021), the Department:
- secured a record 10-year funding agreement for public schools
- created School Infrastructure NSW to deliver an additional 160,000 classroom places
- established the School Leadership Institute to train and develop aspiring school principals across the state
- established policies around the protection and expansion of Aboriginal languages in NSW schools.
Professor Scott is an accomplished communicator and his distinguished record of strategic leadership includes a decade as Managing Director of the ABC (2006 to 2016), where he led the organisation’s transformation to be a public broadcaster in the digital era. Over that time, the ABC created new services like iview, News 24, ABC3 and digital radio; and expanded online and mobile services, such as podcasting and ABC News online.
Professor Scott has also held a number of senior editorial roles at Fairfax, including Education Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and Editor-in-Chief of metropolitan, regional and community newspapers. His contribution to education reaches back to the start of his career, as a teacher in Sydney. He built on his interest in education with senior policy and leadership positions with two NSW education ministers – Terry Metherell and Virginia Chadwick – and in 2011 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia.
He is also a proud alumnus of the University and holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma of Education, a Master of Arts (Political Science and Government), an Honorary Doctorate (Letters) and a Professor of Practice (Education and Media) from the University of Sydney, as well as a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of NSW and University of Technology Sydney.
