Sir John Monash Distinguished Professors: New appointment, Emeritus appointment, and reappointments
Monash University has announced the appointment of Professor Huanting Wang as a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor, Professor Marilyn Fleer as an Emeritus Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor upon her retirement from the University in March 2024, and the reappointments of Professor Aibing Yu and Professor Jamie Cooper AO.
The title of Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor is the most prestigious honour conferred on serving professors at Monash University and is only awarded to professors of exceptional distinction who have made high-level and sustained contributions to their discipline, the University and the community.
Professor Huanting Wang
Professor Huanting Wang is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Laureate Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering; Director of the ARC Research Hub for Energy-Efficient Separation; and Vice-President (Research), Monash Suzhou.
The scope of Professor Wang’s prolific research encompasses nanomaterials and composite membranes for gas separation, water desalination and purification, chiral separation, ion transport and separation and electrochemical energy applications. In 2018, Professor Wang founded the Monash Centre for Membrane Innovation, creating a leading global research hub to serve as a training ground for students and academics alike by bringing together a diverse range of Monash academics with expertise in areas related to membrane technology. Professor Wang secured a prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowship in 2020, which focused on developing new materials for accelerating renewable hydrogen and biofuel futures.
A truly exceptional scholar, Professor Wang has more than 497 publications across many leading journals such as Science Advances, Nature Materials, Energy and Environmental Science and Nature Sustainability and Nature Communications, with more than 34,000 citations with a h-index of 100 (Web of Science). As a testament to his influence within the discipline and his outstanding achievements, Professor Wang has repeatedly been ranked in the top one percent of Clarivate’s annual list of Highly Cited Researchers, most recently in 2023. Professor Wang has had 11 patents licensed to six companies in Australia, the US and China including two Monash University spinouts, 2D Water and Electralith.
As Vice-President (Research), Monash Suzhou, Professor Wang has elevated the profile and reputation of the campus internationally through his work in enhancing membrane research, ensuring the highest level of representation for Monash in China. His commitment to supporting the academic community is unwavering, supervising more than 50 PhD students to date and serving on numerous organisation and editorial boards, including an appointment as Editor-in-Chief of Advanced Membranes.
In recognition of his many notable research contributions, Professor Wang was awarded the Underwood Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK (2021) and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2019), a Fellow in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2017), and a Fellow in The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK (2011).
As the latest recipient of this title, Professor Wang shares this honour with his fellow current Sir John Monash Distinguished Professors, including Professor Bill Charman AO, Professor Kim Cornish, Professor Doug MacFarlane, Professor John McNeil AO, Professor Christina Mitchell AO, Professor Lynette Russell AM, Professor Marilyn Fleer, Professor Aibing Yu and Professor Jamie Cooper AO.
Professor Marilyn Fleer
Professor Marilyn Fleer holds the Foundation Chair in Early Childhood Education and Development in the Faculty of Education. Throughout her illustrious career, she has led key research projects and received significant grant funding for her work. Professor Fleer has been published widely in international journals and is the founder of the International Journal of Research in Early Childhood, an open access journal designed to support scholarship in early education research.
In recognition of her distinguished contributions to early childhood education, Professor Fleer was awarded the prestigious ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellowship in 2018, becoming the ARC’s first Laureate Professor in early childhood education. She was later appointed a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2021 and was selected for the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2022 for her celebrated work in shifting understanding of how young children think and learn.
An accomplished mentor, Professor Fleer has guided a generation of early childhood academics who have gone on to hold senior teaching and research positions in Australia and internationally. Professor Fleer also played an instrumental role in leading the successful development of the Faculty’s early childhood teaching program and contributing to the growth in success of the Faculty’s current undergraduate, masters and doctoral teaching programs.
Professor Aibing Yu
Professor Aibing Yu is the Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University’s Suzhou campus, Founding Director of the ARC Industrial Transformation Hub for Computational Particle Technology, the ARC Industrial Transformation Hub for Smart Process Design and Control, and the BHP-Baowu-Monash Industry Knowledge Centre for Low Carbon Metallurgy. He is also a senior researcher in the Faculty of Engineering’s Department of Chemical Engineering.
A renowned global authority in particle/powder technology and process engineering, Professor Yu has authored or co-authored more than 1000 research publications. He has been awarded numerous grants and has served as the lead or chief investigator for more than 60 ARC grants.
Professor Yu has received prestigious fellowships and awards in recognition of his transformative contributions in engineering science and application. He was elected a Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (2017), a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (2014), a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2011), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2004).
Professor Jamie Cooper AO
Professor Jamie Cooper AO is the Founding and Co-Director of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre; Head of the Acute and Critical Care Division in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences; and a Senior Specialist in Intensive Care at The Alfred Hospital.
Over the course of his career, Professor Cooper has cultivated an international reputation as an expert in intensive care units, critical illness, brain injuries and blood transfusion, and received many eminent honours for his work. In 2021, he became the co-recipient of the Research Australia GSK Award for Research Excellence, one of the most prestigious awards in the Australian medical research community. Most notably, Professor Cooper was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2017 for distinguished service to intensive care medicine in the field of traumatic brain injury as a clinician, and to medical education as an academic, researcher and author.