About PLuS Alliance

Sir Malcolm Grant was President and Provost of UCL for 10 years from 2003. He was previously Pro Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University, where he was the Professor and Head of Department of Land Economy and Professorial Fellow of Clare College. In 2011 he was appointed by the Prime Minister to be the founding chairman of NHS England, where he served a 7-year term, and was also a director of Genomics England Ltd. He is currently Chancellor of the University of York, President of the Council for At-risk Academics (CARA) and a senior adviser on higher education reform to the governments of France and Russia. He is a barrister and Bencher of Middle Temple. He has previously served as chairman of the Russell Group, the Local Government Commission for England and the UK Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission. He was appointed CBE in 2003 and knighted in 2013.

Michael M. Crow, PhD, became the 16th President of Arizona State University in 2002. An academic leader and educator, designer of knowledge enterprises, and science and technology policy scholar, Professor Crow is guiding the transformation of ASU into one of the nation’s leading public metropolitan research universities, an institution that combines the highest levels of academic excellence, inclusiveness to a broad demographic, and maximum societal impact—a model he terms the “New American University.” Under his leadership, ASU has established more than a dozen new transdisciplinary schools and large-scale research initiatives, nearly tripled its research expenditures, and completed an unprecedented infrastructure expansion.

Professor Brungs commenced his appointment on 31 January 2022, joining UNSW from his position as Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (2014 – 2021). He was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research), UTS (2009 – 2014). In November 2021, Professor Brungs was appointed Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor, UTS. He is a distinguished academic and higher education leader with extensive experience in the government and corporate sectors. He has held senior roles with CSIRO and McKinsey & Company, and leadership roles and appointments including Chair of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, the NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee; and member of the Universities Australia Board, the Federal Government Sustainability Research Committee, the Committee for Sydney Board, the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, and the Federal Government’s National University Precincts Advisory Committee. Professor Brungs’ esteemed academic career commenced with undergraduate studies at UNSW, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science and the University Medal in Industrial Chemistry. He then went as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, attaining a Doctor of Philosophy in Inorganic Chemistry. In 2018, Professor Brungs was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering for his research into heterogeneous catalysis and for his leadership in the higher education sector. Professor Brungs’ fundamental belief that universities exist as a public good for the benefit of all drives his passion for higher education and research. He has been an ardent advocate of the contribution universities made to the COVID-19 response in Australia and globally, and for the critical role they will have in Australia’s recovery and growth in the coming years. He is a dedicated innovator who believes universities have the responsibility to prepare their students for the jobs of the future as well as to be instrumental in creating those opportunities. The returning UNSW alumnus is excited about working with the UNSW community to further enhance the University’s reputation as a dynamic, progressive hub of education and research excellence. He is committed to harnessing the vast talents and ideas of students, staff, alumni, Council and partners to realise the UNSW vision to have a positive impact on the world around us. Professor Brungs is keen to build on UNSW’s strong collaboration and research commercialisation credentials, finding more opportunities to partner with government, industry and other academic institutions to create real benefits for Australia and for communities around the world. Professor Brungs is honoured to have returned to UNSW to lead the University in its mission to improve lives globally, through innovative research, transformative education and a commitment to a just society.

Professor Shitij Kapur is the President & Principal of King’s College London. He returned to lead King’s in June 2021, following more than four years at the University of Melbourne, where he was Dean and Assistant Vice Chancellor (Health) for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and interim Deputy Vice Chancellor (International).

Professor Kapur is well known at King’s having previously served, between 2007 to 2016, as Assistant Principal (Academic Performance), Dean and Head of School for the Institute of Psychiatry and the founding Executive Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).

During his time in Melbourne Professor Kapur significantly increased the educational footprint of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, introducing innovative models of learning, increasing both research income and impact, while doubling philanthropic support. In collaboration with colleagues across the university and medical research Institutes he was involved in creating the Centre for the Digital Transformation of Health and establishing the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery. He Co-Chaired the Australian Million Minds Mission and during the Covid pandemic took a lead role in bringing together scholars from the Group of Eight Universities to deliver the ‘Roadmap to Recovery – a Report for the Nation’.

In this role Nick provides strategic leadership and support to the Vice-Chancellor in generating external research income and improving UNSW’s overall research performance, including higher degree research students.Nick is a clinical scientist whose research is in developmental biology and maternal-fetal medicine.He chairs the Steering Committee of the Association of Academic Health Centers International and sits on the Board of SPHERE (Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research & Enterprise). Past roles include President of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society and Chair of the Go8 Deans of Medicine Committee.

Nancy Gonzales, PhD, is Executive Vice President and Provost of ASU. An alumna of ASU, Professor Gonzales earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She received her PhD from the University of Washington. Gonzales is also the co-director at the Prevention Research Center, which focuses on preventative interventions for children who are at risk of developing mental health problems because of exposure to the high-stress situations of parental divorce, parental death, and inner-city Mexican American children in transition to high school.

Gonzales’ research examines cultural and contextual influences in social, academic, and psychological development of youth across their lifespan. The aims of this work are to translate findings into community-based interventions that are effective at promoting successful adaptation and reducing social inequalities and health disparities for high-risk populations.

Professor Evelyn Welch is Vice-Principal (Arts & Sciences) and Professor of Renaissance Studies in the Department of History, School of Arts& Humanities. Her early work centred on Renaissance Milan and fifteenth-century court culture. She later became interested in issues of consumption and went on to work with colleagues in Economic History and Cultural History, resulting in my publications on shopping, marketplaces and pedlars. Her current research interests include Renaissance and Early Modern Material culture, consumption in Early Modern Europe dress and fashion in Early Modern Europe and smell and the senses in Early Modern Europe.