Professor Helen Bartlett is an experienced leader and passionate advocate for regional education.
As Vice-Chancellor and President of USC, Professor Bartlett is leading the university during a time of unprecedented growth and expansion across the South-East Queensland corridor – a period that is expected to bring a wealth of opportunities for the university to increase its impact and engagement across the region.
Prior to starting as USC’s third Vice-Chancellor and President in August 2020, Professor Bartlett led a period of transformation at Federation University Australia, enhancing its profile as a multi-campus institution, its innovative approach to regional higher education and focus on responding to the needs of its communities.
During Professor Bartlett’s time as Vice-Chancellor and President of Federation University from 2017 to 2020, she was also Chair of the Regional Universities Network – a role in which she was able to use her experience to successfully advocate for regional universities when it came to issues of funding, research and policy development. Professor Bartlett was also Chair of the Victorian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee in the year prior to her move to Queensland and worked closely with the Victorian Government as universities shaped their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is passionate about the role regional universities play in helping shape communities and enhancing economic, social and environmental outcomes through education, research and community engagement.
On the international stage, Professor Bartlett has held leadership roles in universities across Australia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Malaysia – where she was President and Chief Executive of Monash University Malaysia from 2013 to 2017.
Professor Bartlett’s diverse experience and expertise are sought after when it comes to higher education policy. She is a member of several key advisory bodies including the Higher Education Standards Panel, the Australian Government Council for International Education, and previously the National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund Working Group.
A research specialist in health and aged care, Professor Bartlett’s career has included roles such as the inaugural Director at the Australasian Centre on Ageing at the University of Queensland, the Oxford Centre for Health Care Research and Development and the Oxford Dementia Centre at Oxford Brookes University.