Professor Ann Nicholson: New Dean of Monash Faculty of Information Technology
Following an extensive global search, Professor Ann Nicholson has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of IT – leading the way in transforming technology education and research at Monash University.
The first woman to hold this prestigious role in the Faculty, Professor Nicholson's appointment will build on the milestone contributions she has made in other diverse leadership positions.
‘I’m proud to lead the largest Faculty of IT in Australia where our purpose is twofold. We aim to prepare graduates for life and a successful career in the digital age while driving technological innovation through fundamental and applied research – harvesting its benefits economically and socially,’ said Professor Nicholson.
As the Faculty’s Associate Dean (Education) from 2014 to 2016, she implemented measures that drove a rapid increase in student load. She also led a review and restructure of all undergraduate offerings, and administered a rollout of best-in-class data science courses.
Other significant and lasting outcomes of her initiatives in this position include embedding an in-house team of educational designers and establishing highly-successful double degrees.
Later in 2018, Professor Nicholson was appointed Deputy Dean (Research) – a role she held until becoming Interim Dean during the uncertain and challenging start of the pandemic. In this capacity, she contributed to strong growth across all core measures of research, including publications, citations, research rankings and research income.
She also shaped the broader endeavours of the Faculty, with a focus on themes such as digital health, sustainability and defence, and significantly increased involvement in Cooperative Research Centres.
An internationally-recognised researcher in AI and an innovative educator, Professor Nicholson’s renowned work has a particular focus on causal Bayesian Networks. Aligned with the Faculty’s ethos ‘IT for Social Good’, her research also aims to drive translational and positive change, with cross-disciplinary collaborations in health, epidemiology, meteorology, education and environmental science.
She has published more than 100 peer reviewed papers, co-authored “Bayesian Artificial Intelligence”, attracted more than $12M in research funding and supervised over 55 PhD, master’s and honour’s students to completion.
Professor Nicholson graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and Master of Science (Computer Science) from the University of Melbourne. In 1988, she was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where she completed her doctorate in the Robotics Research Group.
Currently Professor Nicholson is the Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee. Having joined Monash in 1994, she has also become a widely-respected member of the community, an LGBTIQA+ ally and a Ieader of the Faculty’s Indigenous strategy – a best-practice example across the University.
Her well-rounded leadership expertise, sound judgment, initiative and commitment to championing equity, diversity and inclusion will contribute greatly to the advancement of the Faculty and University’s goals.
‘COVID has massively accelerated the digital disruption already underway around the globe. Online learning, telehealth, remote working, QR check-in and apps for testing and tracing at scale, these were all made possible by advances in my discipline of computing and IT. Many aspects of our lives won’t revert to pre-pandemic norms and the revolution won’t slow – creating enormous opportunities for our students, researchers and partners. I’m excited to lead the Faculty in pursuit of the possibilities in this “new” world.’