Mr Russell Elliott OAM
Mr Russell Elliott OAM has worked in Australian Universities for more than 50 years, including 6 years as an academic staff member and some 45 years in university administration and management.
Mr Elliott served as Vice-President (Administration) at Deakin University (Chief Operating Officer (COO) in current terminology) for 20 years. In this role he was responsible for the provision of all university-wide administrative and support services. He also played a significant role in the negotiation and implementation of two major mergers which saw Deakin’s scale and presence grow substantially. He oversaw the design and construction of the University’s Waterfront campus in Geelong and the expansion and redevelopment of its principal Melbourne campus at Burwood.
Mr Elliott served as a member of a number of policy advisory committees of what is today Universities Australia and acted as Convenor of this body’s Administrative Staff Conference. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the International Meeting of University Administrators. He was also Chair of Callista Software Services Pty Ltd, a wholly owned university software and services company, which developed and supported the Callista Student Management System which was used by more than twelve Australian Universities.
From 2006, Mr Elliott served as Vice-Principal (Property and Campus Services) at The University of Melbourne for several years where he was responsible for the management and development of the University’s extensive property portfolio. This included property acquisition and the construction of new buildings which included the then new home of the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Melbourne Recital Centre; The Economics and Commerce building and the Brain Centre.
Mr Elliott then spent several years as a consultant to The University of Melbourne, principally Chairing Committees overseeing the design and construction of the Melbourne School of Design and the Arts West buildings. He also undertook consulting projects for Monash University and The Australian National University.
Mr Elliott joined Monash University in late 2009 as Associate to the Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for the operational oversight of several Divisions and functions within the COO Portfolio, including the University’s Capital Development Program. From 2014, as Vice-President (Services), Mr Elliott’s primary role was in preparing and overseeing the delivery of this program as the University accelerated the renewal and rejuvenation of its buildings and campus environments across its Australian campuses. In connection with this, he served as a member of the University’s Design Review Panel, its Estates Committee, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Management Team.
The major campus improvement projects of which Mr Elliott oversaw the delivery during his time with Monash included the New Horizons joint research facility with CSIRO; the Green Chemical Futures Building; the landscaping of the north west precinct of the Clayton campus; 1,600 new studio residential places across five sites at Clayton and the landscaping of the central eastern precinct of Clayton including Campus Park; 150 similar studios in a unique cross laminated timber structure and passive house certified new building at Peninsula; the Monash Peninsula Activity and Recreation Centre; The Ian Potter Performing Arts Centre including the redevelopment of The Alexander Theatre; and the new Jazz Club and adjoining landscape works; the Learning and Teaching Building (which pioneered the establishment of
new learning environments supporting active and collaborative teaching and learning) and its associated underground car park; the South-East Precinct landscape renewal; and the creation of the Bus Transport Hub; the major renovation and updating of the library buildings at Clayton and at Caulfield; the Biomedical Sciences teaching building and the Passive House certified energy efficient Woodside Technology building at Clayton; the redevelopment of the Northern Plaza Precinct and the Forum landscape at Clayton; the landscaping and creation of the Central Green at Caulfield; the Business School refurbishment including the new pavilion at Caulfield; MADA spaces refurbishment at Caulfield; the Sports synthetic fields and new associated new pavilions at Clayton; the new Chancellery building and associated forecourt area landscaping; the consolidated central CBD Monash College teaching and administration building.
Together, these developments have provided generational transformation of the University's campus environments.
Mr Elliott was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in January 2016 for “service to tertiary education” and retired from Monash University in 2021.