Emeritus Professor Mike Calford

Principal Advisor

BSc(Hons) (Mon)
PhD (Mon)

Emeritus Professor Mike Calford is one of Australia’s most experienced and outstanding university leaders with over 15 years in senior leadership roles in the Australian higher education industry. In his most recent appointment as Provost of the Australian National University (ANU), Mike was responsible for driving delivery of the ANU Strategic Plan, including reforming student admissions and budget processes. ANU’s research division, including the commercialisation auspices of ANU, also reported to him through the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation).

Previously, as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Newcastle, the university’s commercialisation company Newcastle Innovation (NI) was part of Mike’s portfolio. NI had many commercial successes during Mike’s five years on the Board, including the establishment and listing of Virotarg which – as Viralytics – was sold to Merck in 2018 for $504 million.

Mike also served as Provost of the University of Tasmania for four years where he helped win government funding for a campus relocation project, and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health and Medical Research) at the University of Wollongong..

In addition to his career as in university leadership, Mike has been a leading researcher in the field of neuroscience and held research and teaching roles at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, as well as at ANU. He also worked overseas at the University of Oxford, the University of California, Irvine and The City University of New York.

Drawing on his extensive experience in research, education strategy and management, Mike partners with Wells Advisory on projects in the higher education sector nationally and internationally involving research- and innovation-related reviews, research commercialisation, university budget model reviews, faculty and organisational reviews, and growth strategy.

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