Dean To Lead Oasis Of Study

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday May 31, 2008

By KATELIN McINERNEY

UNIVERSITY of Wollongong's Dean of Science will be swapping the leafy ambience of Keiraville for a sandy millionaires' playground when he takes over as president of the university's Dubai campus later this year.

When initially asked to take the Dubai reins, Professor Rob Whelan said "no way".

"I had never even thought about it, and it was so different to what I saw myself doing at Wollongong as Dean of Science," he said.

University of Wollongong vice-principal (overseas operations) Dr James Langridge said Prof Whelan's long career made him an ideal choice.

"Professor Whelan has a record of injecting new ideas and strategies into organisations, managing and leading senior level teams and interacting with external stakeholders at all levels," Dr Langridge said.

Prof Whelan will take over the position for three years and said he was looking forward to learning about life in the Middle East, picking up the Arabic language and building further on the successes of the UOWD campus.

"I'm keen on seeing the university broaden as well as expand in numbers, and I would like to see it move further into the areas of science, engineering and social science, in particular health," he said.

The heat will not be a problem for the leading bushfire ecologist, who completed much of his early biology research in the deserts of Western Australia and spent time in the deserts outside San Diego in the United States on a Fulbright Fellowship.

"I'm used to being surrounded by cacti," he said.

The Dubai campus of UOW was established in 1993 and over the past 15 years has grown to 2500 students.

While Prof Whelan said it was a wrench to be leaving after a 25-year affiliation with the Wollongong campus, he was quietly relishing the thought of drinking his way through the contents of his wine cellar before his departure.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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