The university announce Amit Chakma will replace Dawn Freshwater
Professor Chakma will takeover in July, following Professor Freshwater’s departure in March to become VC of the University of Auckland
Professor Chakma was the VC of the University of Western Ontario (“Western U”) until July, stepping down after ten years. Before that he was VP Academic and Provost at Waterloo U, also in Ontario.
Professor Chakma is a chemical engineer, expert in gas and petroleum, which will appeal on resources-research focused UWA. Uni Western Ontario nominates his growing international student numbers by a factor of five as a major achievement. This may also be welcome at UWA, Perth languishes as a destination of choice for international students.
UWA Chancellor Robert French says Professor Chakma is “committed to combining research excellence with outstanding student experience.”
Western U is a big teaching institution, with 24 000 undergraduates and just under 8000 PGs. In comparison, UWA has 24 000 in total. However, UWA is stronger in research, ranking 99th in the world in the current Academic Ranking of World Universities, while Western U is in the ARWU’s 201-300 band.