Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh would leave the post at the end of the year, according to a statement issued by Chancellor Ian McKinnon.
Professor Walsh has held the post since January 2005.
He was previously Member, Industrial Relations Centre (1981), Head of School of Business & Public Management, now known as School of Management (1997), Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of School Faculty of Commerce & Administration (since renamed Victoria Business School and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research (2003).
He has a First Class Honours postgraduate (MA) degree from the University of Canterbury and PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Global reputation
Mr McKinnon paid tributes to Professor Walsh, saying that Victoria University achieved considerable success during his tenure.
“As Vice-Chancellor, Professor Walsh recognised the role of the University in the capital city and ensured that Victoria developed strong relationships internationally, including establishing a number of memoranda of understanding with partner universities around the world,” he said.
Mr McKinnon said that the University provided first-class university education led by outstanding research active staff as well as an outstanding student experience.
“The number of students attending Victoria has increased and the University has had to manage the challenges that this brings, not simply in the necessary expansion of facilities such as the new student Campus Hub and the state-of-the-art Alan MacDiarmid Building but also in the development of its teaching, learning and research initiatives,” Mr McKinnon said.
Leadership focus
He said that Professor Walsh focused on leadership and that he was able to reflect on a period in which he has added considerably to the standing of Victoria.
“The University Council has greatly valued Professor Walsh’s time in office. The University, staff and students have benefitted these eight years,” Mr McKinnon said.
Professor Walsh said that he found the role challenging, stimulating and enormously rewarding.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to be Victoria’s Vice-Chancellor. I have been inspired on a daily basis by my first-hand knowledge of the many extraordinary achievements of our staff and students,” he said.
The University will shortly begin the process of finding a successor.
