Mr John Dornbusch
Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland
Mr John Dornbusch has served on the Council of the University of Southern Queensland for seventeen years, twelve years as Chair of Finance and Facilities Committee and eight years as Deputy Chancellor before he was appointed as Chancellor in March 2014.
The Chancellor leads the governing body of the University, the Council. Members of the Council, representing University and community interests, contribute to the overall governance of the University by helping to set strategic directions and develop policy.
Mr Dornbusch is the Founding Chairman of Dornbusch Partners Pty Ltd, a financial and corporate services company based in Toowoomba. He is also a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He was previously the Queensland Regional Manager for Macquarie Financial Services, a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank. Mr Dornbusch has been actively involved in the promotion of freight rail and other regional development projects and chairs several companies involved in such activities. He has considerable experience in corporate capital raising especially in the infrastructure sector and a long history of community engagement.
University Profile
The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has forged a reputation as one of Australia’s leading providers of on-campus and online (distance) education programs in Australia. With more than 75 percent of students studying via distance or online, USQ’s delivery of external education resources continues to lead the way. The University operates across multiple teaching campuses, including Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich in South-East Queensland.
In just over fifty years USQ has become a prominent multi-campus teaching and research institution providing education worldwide. In 2017 USQ celebrates its 50th anniversary as an educational institution and its 25th anniversary as a university.
USQ’s core values are:
Respect
Integrity
Excellence.
The recently approved USQ Strategic Plan 2016-2020 sets out key theme activities for the period and captures three pillars which form the foundation of the University’s strategies, as follows:
Education – USQ successfully blends access with excellence and is a leading university for student experience and graduate outcomes.
Research – USQ is internationally recognised for high impact research in our areas of research focus.
Enterprise – USQ is a socially responsible and well managed enterprise with a work culture that promotes high performance and is reflective of our values.
USQ is among a number of Australia’s regional universities to have gained a stronger national voice with the launch of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) in 2012. RUN is a network of six universities (Central Queensland University, Southern Cross University, Federation University Australia, University of New England, University of the Sunshine Coast and the University of Southern Queensland) with a commitment to bring forward policy advice to government, particularly with regard to tertiary education and regional development.
USQ’s research and research training programs position the University to support Australia’s innovation agenda, play a major role in regional development, and maintain a culture of scholarship and excellence that informs and inspires its learning and teaching program. We are committed to performing research that is not only of academic relevance, but is engaging with industry and our stakeholders contributing to innovation that benefits our communities and the nation.
The University’s areas of research focus include:
Agriculture and Agribusiness
Cultural Heritage and Archaeology
Digital Studies, principally the Digital Life initiative
Environmental Sciences
Health and Behavioural Sciences, principally Regional Health and Wellbeing
Materials and Mechanical Engineering
Mathematical and Data Sciences, principally Computational
Mathematics and Space Sciences
Regional Community and Economic Development.
To find out more, visit the University of Southern Queensland website www.usq.edu.au/
Governance
University of Southern Queensland Council
The Council is the governing body of the University of Southern Queensland and has the following functions-
Provision of strategic direction to the University
Provision of overall leadership to the University
Monitoring implementation of strategy against targets
Appointing and monitoring the performance of the Vice-Chancellor
Appointment of the University’s staff
Management and control of the University’s affairs and property
Management and control of the University’s finances
For more information, please refer to the Council’s charter .
Membership of the University of Southern Queensland’s Council is as follows:
Ex-Officio Members
Mr John Dornbusch – Chancellor (to 6 March 2019)
Professor Geraldine Mackenzie – Vice-Chancellor
Professor Aileen Cater-Steel – Chair of Academic Board (to 31 July 2018)
Appointed Members – Ministerial
Ms Rachel Barlow (to 6 October 2021)
Mr Chris Bazley (to 6 October 2021)
Dr Carol Cox AM (to 6 October 2021)
Mr Brett Delaney (to 6 October 2021)
Det Chief Superintendent Charysse Pond APM (to 6 October 2021)
Appointed Members – Council
Ms Jan Boys (to 6 October 2021) – Deputy Chancellor
Mr George Fox (to 6 October 2021)
Vacant
Elected Members
Assoc Professor Pauline Collins – Academic Staff (to 6 October 2021)
Mrs Mary McGilvray – Professional Staff (to 6 October 2021)
Mr Peter Becker – Undergraduate Student (to 18 April 2019)
Other Governing Bodies
Other Governing bodies within the University include:
Academic Board
Chair – Professor Aileen Cater-Steel
Audit and Risk Committee
Chair – Mr Brett Delaney
Finance and Facilities Committee
Chair – Mr Chris Bazley
Chancellor’s Committee
Chair – Mr John Dornbusch, Chancellor
Remuneration Sub-Committee
Chair – Mr John Dornbusch, Chancellor
Honorary Awards Committee
Chair – Mr John Dornbusch, Chancellor