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Professor Sandra Harding

Vice-Chancellor and President

Professor Sandra Harding

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) ANU , M.Pub.Admin UQ , PhD NCSU , FAICD, FAIM

Professor Sandra Harding joined James Cook University, based in tropical Australia, as Vice-Chancellor and President in January 2007. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring clear and effective leadership and management of the University.

Professor Harding studied science, graduating with honours from the Australian National University followed by a Masters degree in Public Administration from The University of Queensland and a PhD in Sociology from North Carolina State University, USA. She is an economic sociologist with a keen scholarly interest markets and how they work and organisation survey methodology. She also has a keen professional interest in education policy and management. She has authored and co-authored a wide range of publications, conference papers and press articles in her areas of interest.

Professor Harding has extensive academic and academic leadership experience. She came to James Cook University from Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Between 1997 and 2006, she held a number of senior executive roles at QUT, including Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) and (executive) Dean of the Faculty of Business. In the former role, she was responsible for international education policy, strategy and execution, development plans and activities, the management of public venues operated by the University, and for QUT’s International College. As Dean of the Faculty of Business, she was responsible for all facets of one of Australia’s largest Faculties of Business, including teaching and learning, research, development and outreach as well as planning and budgeting and sound corporate management.

Professor Harding has undertaken a wide variety of external roles. She was the inaugural President of the Australian Business Deans Council and Vice-President of the Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance. She has undertaken a variety of Board and Council roles, including as Chair of the Australian Statistics Advisory Council (2002-2006) and Member of the HIH Review Panel (2001-2008), both Federal Government appointments, Chairman of Brisbane Marketing Pty Ltd and Director of the Port of Townsville. She was a delegate to Australia’s 2020 Summit in 2008 as a member of the Productivity stream.

Current roles include:

  • Chair, Innovative Research Universities Australia (an alliance of seven Australian universities: Griffith, La Trobe, Flinders, Murdoch, Newcastle, Charles Darwin University and James Cook University);

  • Board member of Universities Australia;

  • Council Member of the Australian Institute for Marine Sciences;

  • Director of Townsville Enterprise Limited;

  • Director of Advance Cairns;

  • Director of TropLinks Incorporated ;

  • Member of the Premier’s Smart Council; and;

  • Director of the Global Foundation for Management Education Ltd (Montreal).

Professor Harding is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.