Farewell to Professor Michelle Campbell

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Professor Michelle Campbell will depart ACU on 27 November after more than 30 years of dedicated service to the university.

In honour of Professor Campbell’s outstanding contributions, her championing of ACU’s mission, and her leadership of the university’s largest faculty, she has been awarded the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Sapienta et Virtus Award.

The Sapientia et Virtus (Wisdom and Virtue) Award is the highest mission award ACU can bestow upon a member of its community. Recipients must have contributed a minimum of 10 years of service to the university, and this award is made at the time of retirement.

Professor Campbell started as a lecturer in nursing at the Mercy Campus of the Institute of Catholic Education in 1988, progressed to the role of Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery in Victoria and NSW, and has been Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences for the past decade.

During these years, she has led the expansion of our health sciences offerings at a time when the need for health services has grown exponentially. ACU now trains the largest number of nurses in Australia, we have built thriving partnerships with healthcare networks, we are in great demand for all our allied health courses, and we promote research into critical areas of health.

Professor Campbell has achieved many things at ACU during her tenure, such as:

• driving major growth for ACU through the Faculty of Health Sciences – with a 278 per cent growth in EFTSL from 2010 to 2020
• restructuring the national schools, and realigning the disciplines
• building a strong reputation in health science for ACU, both within Australia and abroad
• championing early diversification of health offerings
• being responsible for negotiating and establishing multiple clinical partnerships with Catholic and other health providers, including placements as well as the establishment of clinical schools and research chairs
• driving the establishment of new postgraduate offerings, including the Master of High-Performance Sport suite and the related successful seminar series with international universities including Notre Dame (Indiana) and Leeds Trinity
• founding many new international partnerships contributing to Rome Campus outcomes, including the USA Catholic universities Loyola and Catholic University of America
• holding adjunct professorships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Miami and the Catholic University of America
• being named Vice President of the Order of Malta.

We thank Professor Campbell for her contributions to ACU and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.