Vice-Chancellor's Ambassador for International Partnerships

Professor Chris Hutchison is the Vice-Chancellor’s Ambassador for International Partnerships. Based in the United Kingdom, Chris will oversee the creation and management of new partnerships for Federation University.

Chris has extensive senior stakeholder management experience and a more than two-decade-long track record in Australia and the UK in establishing partnerships between industry, community and higher education institutions and developing collaborative strategies for research and innovation.

In the United Kingdom, Chris was a founding co-director of the Northeast England Stem Cell Institute – a unique partnership between Durham and Newcastle Universities and two national health trusts. The Institute attracted a £10 million establishment grant from the regional government for cutting-edge research and continues to develop novel therapeutic interventions to help people with otherwise incurable diseases.

While at Durham University, Chris managed the university’s relationship with multinational consumer goods company Proctor and Gamble, leading to a multi-million-pound investment for the university and an ongoing partnership.

At Perth’s Murdoch University, Chris developed partnerships with US-based scientific instrument companies Waters Corporation and Bruker, and Imperial College in London, which led to the creation of the Australian National Phenome Centre.

He also established the Southern Metropolitan Grains Precinct – a collaboration between Curtain and Murdoch Universities and Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The Precinct attracted $10 million in funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation for work that focused on developing drought-resistant grains for the state’s vital agriculture industry.

More recently, Chris was Federation’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation. He also managed Federation’s relationship with IBM for four years, leading to the creation of the IBM Emerging Technologies Hub, a partnership between the university, the Victorian Government and IBM.

Work on the IBM Emerging Technologies Hub began before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris worked with leaders at IBM’s Innovation Studios throughout Europe, including during international travel restrictions, on developing this state-of-the-art facility.

Chris also led the development of the Ararat Jobs and Technologies Precinct – a collaboration between Federation, industry, government and the community to help drive economic growth and job opportunities in the Ararat region.

Contact

Vice-Chancellor's Office
Federation University Australia
PO Box 663
BALLARAT VIC 3353
Email: c.hutchison@federation.edu.au