Deborah Terry will become VC of  Uni Queensland in August, leaving Curtin U after six years.

Uni Queensland announced her appointment last night. She returns to her long-time academic home, where she started in psychology in 1990 and left as senior DVC. She was well-regarded at Uni Queensland for maintaining calm, as acting VC, after the 2011 resignations of then VC Paul Greenfield and his deputy Michael Keniger.

Professor Terry moved to Curtin U in 2014, accepting a second five-year term there in 2018.

She is all-but universally considered a success at Curtin U.

During her leadership, the university has created a medical school, opened campuses in Dubai and Mauritius and expanded in on-line education, particularly in career-study micro-masters, (via edX).

The university is also working on a $500m transformation of its Bentley campus. Curtin also appears as happy as universities get, with good-ish staff relations.

And while the extraordinary growth in research performance of her first term has slowed Curtin is now well placed in the Australian second division. In 2013 Curtin U was in the 400-500 bracket of the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Last year it cracked the top 200, ranking ninth in Australia.  In the Leiden research ranking released in May the university was in the global top 200, up from 316 last and 355 in 2017.

Professor Terry has also grown as an industry leader, presently serving as chair of Universities Australia.

She will take over at what is widely regarded as one of the top two Australian universities in August. PresentVC Peter Hoj will stay-on until she arrives.

With her appointment five Queensland universities will have, woman VCs, the others being – Sandra Harding (James Cook U), Margaret Sheil (QUT), Carolyn Evans (Griffith U) and Geraldine Mackenzie (Uni Southern Queensland).