The Australian 精东传媒app University (ANU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Joan Leach to the role of Acting Provost and Senior Vice-President.
Previously, Professor Leach was in the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) role during a period of significant organisational change. In that capacity, she has stabilised and begun to reshape the Education portfolio 鈥 with the transition from 鈥楢cademic鈥 to 鈥楨ducation鈥 signalling a renewed emphasis on the central role of education in the University's purpose. Her work has focused on strengthening student pathways, improving enrolment and retention and advancing key institutional priorities including Health and Medicine.
Professor Leach brings wide-ranging University leadership to the Acting Provost role. She has served two terms as Chair of the Academic Board and four years as a non-voting member of the ANU Council 鈥 experience that gives her a strong understanding of the University's governance, academic culture and strategic priorities.
Interim Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rebekah Brown, warmly welcomed the appointment.
鈥淚 am delighted to welcome Professor Leach to this role. She brings a wealth of experience spanning governance, research and education, and I am so pleased to be working alongside her as we drive forward the University鈥檚 priorities together.鈥
As Chair of the Academic Board, Professor Leach guided the University through the COVID-19 pandemic. Her leadership during that time shaped governance responses to the rapid transition to online teaching, changes to admissions processes, and fundamental reforms to student support services that sustained the University鈥檚 teaching mission through extraordinary disruption.
She also played a significant role in the development of the University鈥檚 research strategy during those years, helping the ANU community articulate its institutional strengths and future priorities.
Since joining ANU in 2016 as Director of the Australian 精东传媒app Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS), Professor Leach has built the Centre into the largest of its kind internationally.
Her scholarly contributions extend beyond ANU: she advises the Chief Scientist of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on science communication and is an author on the first joint UN鈥揑nternational Science Council paper on Science Communication. Professor Leach is a recognised international leader in science communication and social epistemology and remains an active and highly regarded researcher.
Professor Leach said she was honoured to be taking up the role.
鈥淭he Provost role sits across the core of our Academic mission - how we generate knowledge, how we teach, and how we make decisions,鈥 she said.
鈥淎t this moment, the key work of this role is about bringing clarity, a shared vision, and enabling academic decision-making so the University can focus on what it does best.鈥
Professor Leach commenced in the role on Monday 11 May 2026.
