Dignitaries to welcome Victoria’s new Vice-Chancellor

27 February 2014

Dignitaries to welcome Victoria’s new Vice-Chancellor

Government, academic and education leaders will gather at Victoria University of Wellingtonnext Monday, to formally welcome Victoria’s new Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Grant Guilford.

Professor Guilford takes up the role of Vice-Chancellor on Monday 3 March, following Professor Pat Walsh, who has been Victoria’s Vice-Chancellor for nine years.

Professor Guilford and his family will be officially welcomed onto Te Herenga Waka Marae at Victoria’s Kelburn campus at an occasion hosted by Victoria’s Chancellor Ian McKinnon. Professor Piri Sciascia, Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori at Victoria, will lead the welcome.

More than 100 guests are expected to attend the event, including members of parliament, Wellington local government, school, business and sporting leaders, student representatives and academic colleagues from both Victoria and Auckland universities.

Professor Guilford previously held the role of Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Auckland.

“I have no doubt that the ceremony will be a moving and memorable occasion for Professor Guildford and his family and the Victoria community as a whole,” says Mr McKinnon.

“We are delighted to be welcoming Professor Guilford to the role of Vice-Chancellor. His commitment and drive for excellence make him a most appropriate choice to lead Victoria in the coming years.”

Short Biography: Professor W. Grant Guilford
Professor Guilford is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Auckland and a member of the Senior Management Team. He has successfully led large and complex academic organisations, beginning with the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences at Massey University and continuing to his current role as Dean of Sciences.

The Faculty of Sciences at the University of Auckland has approximately 850 staff and 7,500 students, including 1,400 postgraduates. It spans natural and social science disciplines, encompasses a number of professions and has revenues in excess of $180 million.

Professor Guilford holds Bachelor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Veterinary Science degrees from Massey University and a PhD in Nutrition from the University of California, Davis. Earlier in his career, he undertook teaching, research, clinical and leadership roles at the University of Missouri, the University of California, Davis, and Massey University.

He has driven major capital works processes and participated in a wide range of commercialisation processes, and has been on the board of a number of companies, research consortia, joint ventures, centres of research excellence and a Crown Research Institute.

ENDS

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