New deputy appointed

Leadership

Professor Pascale Quester will be the University of Adelaide's new Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic).

Professor Quester will take up the position in June following the retirement of Professor Fred McDougall.

Professor Quester has been Executive Dean of the University's Faculty of the Professions since 2005.

Professor James McWha, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide, said Professor Quester had earned an enviable reputation in tertiary education in Australia and overseas, with a strong background in leading major university-wide initiatives in addition to academic and research endeavours.

"The higher education sector is facing unprecedented change. Student needs are quite different now from even five years ago. The combination of increasingly flexible learning environments, a diverse student population and ambitious enrolment targets offer great opportunities," Professor McWha said.

"This appointment will play a crucial role in leading the University through this period by shaping our teaching and learning agenda and by delivering a high-quality student experience," Professor McWha said.

"Professor Quester clearly has the experience and foresight to advance the University's international standing as a world-class research and teaching institution."

Following a worldwide search, Professor Quester was chosen from a highly competitive field, which included strong local and international candidates, by demonstrating her capacity to drive a number of student-centric initiatives such as the redevelopment of the business school precinct and the $41.8 million Learning Hub to be opened later this year.

Professor Quester is also an active researcher in the area of consumer behaviour with more than 150 refereed publications and book chapters to her name.

"I am really excited to be taking on this role," Professor Quester said. "There is just so much potential in this institution. It is a privilege to be one of the people that will determine the direction and strategy of the University. I am confident that staff and students alike will embrace, and indeed, value the changes that will be required of us as we respond to a highly dynamic environment."

Professor Quester said her own experience as a foreign student and teacher had helped her to understand the way the education world operates.
"To be part of the journey that will make the University of Adelaide as successful in the future as it has been in the past is an opportunity I know I shall relish."

French born, Professor Quester holds a Bachelor of Business from Audencia, one of the top French Business Schools, and a Master in Marketing from Ohio State University. She subsequently moved to Massey University in New Zealand where she earned a PhD specialising in sales promotion.

Appointed in 1991 as a lecturer in the Graduate School of Management at the University of Adelaide, she became a Senior Lecturer in the School of Commerce in 1992, was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2002 and then Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of the Professions in 2004 before taking on her current role as Executive Dean in 2005.

Story by Kate Husband