Leadership at Curtin

Professor Hayne is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the Association for Psychological Science. In 2009 she was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to scientific and medical research, and in 2012 received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Colorado College, USA.

In 2022 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in recognition of her outstanding services to health and wellbeing.

Professor Hayne is a former Chair of Universities New Zealand, Te Pōkai Tara, the peak body for the country’s universities. She also chaired the Universities New Zealand Research Committee and has been a member of the Board of Treasury and the Board of Fulbright New Zealand.

Professor Hayne has published widely in the area of memory development and adolescent risk taking, and has supervised numerous PhD, Master and undergraduate Honours theses. She was the Associate Editor of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Memory, the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, and the New Zealand Journal of Psychology and is a member of the Editorial Board of Infant Behaviour and Development and of Developmental Psychobiology.

Professor Matthew Tonts joined Curtin University as Provost in June 2024, having previously been Chair of the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority.  He has extensive experience spanning academia, industry and government, particularly in the areas of regional development, urban policy and environmental protection.

Professor Tonts has held a number of senior leadership positions in higher education spanning more than 20 years, most recently as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean at The University of Western Australia.

Matthew’s  academic career began with a Bachelor of Arts (Geography and Environmental Management) from Edith Cowan University, and he later went on to complete his Doctor of Philosophy (Geography) at Curtin University.  In 2020 he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

He is an internationally recognised scholar and has published widely in the areas of economic geography, regional development and environmental management. Matthew’s particular area of interest relates to the development of resource-dependent regions. He been an advisor to industry and government on environmental protection and planning, economic development strategy and urban development.

Professor Paul Brunton joined Curtin University as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic in 2022, having previously been the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of Otago in New Zealand for four years. He is responsible for the learning and teaching portfolio, specifically achieving the University’s strategic goals in learning and teaching and ensuring an outstanding experience for our students.

After graduating from the University of Leeds, School of Dentistry in 1984, he obtained his Master of Science in Restorative Dentistry in 1992 and his PhD in 1996 from the University of Manchester. Professor Brunton graduated with a Doctor of Dental Science from the University of Otago in 2021. He was granted his Fellowship in Dental Surgery from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1995 and in 2022 he was awarded a Fellowship by election from the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Professor Brunton is well published and his research interests include the development of new technologies to improve patient care, clinical and translational research, operative dentistry, specifically tooth preparation and the early diagnosis and treatment of tooth wear.

Professor Fitzgerald is also the CEO of Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia and leads a team of researchers and postgraduate students in nationally coordinated research focused on understanding and preventing the loss of function that occurs following neurotrauma.

Professor Xiaotian Zhang is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global (Interim), a member of the senior leadership team at Curtin University in Australia. He is an expert in the internationalization of higher education and has held several senior executive positions at the world’s leading universities in Asia, Europe, and Oceania, including Deputy Vice President (International) of Shanghai University among others. In the past decade, he has successfully chaired and led large-scale multinational education and research initiatives across the globe.

As an academic, Professor Zhang is the SHU Distinguished Professor of International Business and he held academic positions at the University of Southern Denmark, Stockholm University, University of Oulu, and the University of Tartu. He is also a former Rajawali Fellow of John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a Visiting Fellow of Said Business School, University of Oxford.
Professor Zhang is passionate about the strategic development of global entrepreneurial universities.

Professor Jonathan Bullen commenced as Curtin University’s inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous in 2026.

A proud Wardandi Noongar and Yamatji man from Western Australia’s south-west, Professor Bullen played a fundamental role in shaping Indigenous strategic approaches and governance models and embedding Indigenous education, research and engagement as core to Curtin’s identity, purpose and future.

His leadership as Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Indigenous Advancement; Chair of the Indigenous Leadership Group; Associate Professor and Research Fellow in the enAble Institute; and Curtin Medical School’s first appointed Indigenous academic established enduring foundations for Indigenous advancement at Curtin.

Professor Vanessa Chang commenced as interim Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Business and Law in December 2021. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty.

Professor Chang joined Curtin in 1989 as a Tutor  in the School of Information Systems. Her previous leadership roles in the University include Director of Learning Innovations where she led innovation and project teams to develop Massive Open Online Courses as well as leading transformational IT projects at Curtin, Dean of Learning and Teaching, and Head of School of Information Systems.

Professor Chang is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and an experienced leader in higher education. Her information systems research are focused in leadership, governance, and the use of data and systems in organisations. As an educator, she conducts research in learning pedagogies, in immersive and online learning.

Professor Carlo Marra joined Curtin as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2024, having previously served as Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Otago and Memorial University. Prior to that he was a Professor and the Director of CORE at the University of British Columbia.  He has extensive experience in academic leadership, research, health workforce development and health care and government – particularly in the areas of arthritis and health care resource allocation to achieve optimal health outcomes.

Professor Marra holds a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy), a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Care and Epidemiology from the University of British Columbia, and has completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada in Arthritis Epidemiology and Pharmacoepidemiology. He has previously held a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Pharmaceutical Outcomes and was a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar at the University of British Columbia. Professor Marra also worked as a pharmacy clinician in the hospital environment, in primary care and in a rheumatology clinic.

Professor Marra is an internationally recognised scholar and has published widely on health economics and outcomes, efficient use of the health work force and pharmacoepidemiology. He has been published in almost 300 peer-reviewed articles and has received more than $10 million in competitive research funding.

Professor Richard Blythe began as the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Humanities in June 2021. Prior to this, he was the Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech in the United States and Dean of the School of Architecture + Design at RMIT University, Melbourne Australia.

Professor Blythe’s achievements include taking a lead role in establishing a national research centre for smart design and construction in Washington DC, creating a campus-based Creativity and Innovation District and providing executive leadership on strategy and international networks and programs.

Professor Blythe has a PhD in Design/Practice-based Research from RMIT University. His research interests are founded in a passion for creative practice, developing approaches to creative practice research and in building communities of creative practitioner researchers.

Professor Mark Ogden commenced as interim Pro Vice-Chancellor, Science and Engineering in August 2021. Prior to this, he was Head of the School of Molecular and Life Sciences.

He worked at the University of Oxford, and the University of Western Australia, before joining Curtin in 1997 on a Curtin University Research Fellowship. His previous leadership roles at Curtin include Head of the Department of Chemistry, Director of the Nanochemistry Research Institute, and Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research Training.

Professor Ogden has a degree in Chemistry and a PhD from the University of Western Australia. He has educated Curtin students in inorganic and general chemistry from first year through to PhD, and has research interests in supramolecular chemistry, lanthanide coordination chemistry, hydrogel formation, and most recently metal-based light emitting materials.

Professor Alex Stojcevski is an educational leader and executive with experience across three diverse continents, including Australia, Europe, and Asia.

Professor Alex Stojcevski is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor & President of Curtin Singapore.

Prior to Curtin Singapore, Professor Stojcevski was the Dean of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Australia. In addition, Professor Stojcevski has held senior leadership positions at RMIT University based in Vietnam, and Deakin University in Australia. Professor Stojcevski also held an invited Professor role at Aalborg University Denmark, and currently holds a Distinguished Professor position with Sanjay Ghodawat University, India. He is also an invited Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia.

Professor Stojcevski holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Engineering, Masters by research degree in Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy Logic, and a Bachelor degree in Engineering. He also holds a Master degree in Educational Leadership and a Master degree in Project Based Learning (PBL) from Aalborg University in Denmark.

He holds an internationally recognised profile in Renewable Energy, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, and STEM Education. Professor Stojcevski is in the world’s 2% top-cited scientists in the categories of “Energy”, and “Electrical and Electronics Engineering”. He has published over 450 articles and has supervised more than 30 PhD student completions.

He has very strong collaboration with a number of industries and Universities worldwide, resulting in income-generating partnerships of over AUD$90m.

Professor Kaka before joining Curtin university, spent one year as the President of Applied Science University in Kingdom of Bahrain. Prior to this he served as the Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot Watt University Dubai, a position he has held since 2010. He led and grown the HWU Dubai campus to a student population of over 4000, 250 staff and a growing research culture.  Professor Kaka’s contribution to the transnational education in general and to the Dubai’s education landscape in particular has been immense.  Before this he spent 9 years at Heriot Watt Edinburgh campus and was involved in several senior roles including the Director of the MENA hub and the Director of Learning and Teaching. He was also the leader of the construction economics and management research group.

He started his academic career at the University of Liverpool where he spent 9 years there as a full time faculty member of the Liverpool school of Architecture and Building Engineering.

Professor Kaka is also a Professor of Construction Economics and Management and has an international reputation for research on the planning, management, and control of construction projects. Author of more than 150 publications, he has held numerous funded research grants with impact demonstrated by the extent of citation and direct industrial application. He is a fellow of the RICS and member of the editorial boards of a number of international academic journals. He has supervised more than 30 PhD students to completion, many of which have developed into senior roles in governments, industry and academia.

Professor Vincent Lee Chieng Chen commenced as Pro Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive of Curtin Malaysia in July 2025 after serving as Interim from January 2025. Prior to this role, he was the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor and held senior academic leadership roles within the Faculty of Engineering and Science.

A dynamic leader and award-winning academic, Professor Lee brings more than a decade of experience in higher education, specialising in non-linear dynamics, noise and vibration. He has led numerous industry-funded research and consultancy projects and in 2019 was named one of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ best young engineers under 35.

Professor Lee holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and PhD from the University of Nottingham, and is a professionally registered engineer, chartered scientist, certified project management professional and Fellow of Advance HE (UK).

Over the course of his academic and professional career, Professor Lee has earned numerous accolades, including the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Rising Star under 35 Award (2019) and the Young Member Award (2018), as well as the Anak Sarawak Appreciation Award from Business Events Sarawak (2018). He is affiliated with several prestigious institutions, including the Board of Engineers Malaysia, Engineering Council UK, Science Council UK and Project Management Institute (USA).

Professor Lina Pelliccione commenced as the inaugural Pro-Vice Chancellor of Curtin Mauritius in January 2019. Prior to taking on this role, she was Head of the School of Education and Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University.

Professor Pelliccione’s background is in education and innovation, in particular in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Her research interests include the adoption and implementation of ICT in teaching and learning; enhancing learning through the use of ICT; teacher education; online learning; innovation and change.

She holds a Doctor of Philosophy, a Master of Education, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education Studies, a Bachelor of Education from Curtin University and a Diploma of Teaching from the Western Australian Institute of Technology.

Mr David Menarry is Curtin University’s Chief Financial Officer. He has extensive corporate experience including in corporate finance, due diligence, stock exchange listings, risk management and audit in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Mr Menarry is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He also holds a number of board and community-based roles.

Dr Marco Schultheis is the Chief Strategy Officer at Curtin University. His portfolio responsibilities include strategic planning, strategic projects portfolio management, market and institutional research and business intelligence and analysis.

Dr Schultheis has a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Strategic Marketing and a Doctorate of Business Administration.

He is a graduate of the Australian Company Directors Course and a graduate member of the AICD. In 2017 he completed a high potential leaders program at Harvard University. Dr Schultheis has also served on the University’s Council and as non-Executive Director on the YMCA, Perth Board.

Ms Beth Cubitt is an experienced construction and commercial lawyer with cross-border and international experience and has been Chief Legal Officer of Curtin University commencing in January 2024.  She has overall responsibility for all legal aspects of the University’s operations, and also a broader role across a range of strategic issues and initiatives with a risk or governance dimension.

Ms Cubitt has more than 20 years’ experience in private practice and was previously a partner of two leading international firms.  She began her career as a lawyer and public notary in South Africa before moving to Australia in 2000.  She has lived and worked in Australia in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.  She is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland, the University of South Africa and Stellenbosch University.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Amanda Stammers was appointed Curtin University’s Interim Chief Financial Officer in September 2024, having previously held the role of Director Financial Reporting since 2017. Amanda joined Curtin in 2013 and has held various roles within the Financial Reporting team. Prior to joining Curtin, Amanda has held senior management roles within the energy sector and in chartered accounting firms in Australia and the USA.

Amanda’s experience encompasses management and statutory reporting, financial analysis, forecasting and budgeting, treasury management and strategic plan implementation.

Amanda is a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and holds several community-based roles.

Ms Melisa Kaharevic was appointed as Curtin University’s Chief People Officer in 2024, bringing broad industry experience in human resources, organisational transformation, change management, industrial relations, and people strategy.

Melisa’s industry experience spans public and private sectors, including health, human services, and higher education. Melisa is a former practising lawyer and brings a unique set of skills to the CPO role.

Melisa is passionate about creating and enriching employee experience and aligning the people strategy to organisational purpose.