Barney Glover

Barney Glover is the Vice-Chancellor of Western Sydney University and the Chair of Universities Australia.

Personal life

Glover was educated at Newcomb High School, Victoria. He later studied mathematics at the University of Melbourne, receiving a PhD in 1993.

Career

Glover began his executive career at the University of Ballarat, where he was appointed the Director, Research and Graduate Studies in 1990. In 1997 he moved to Curtin University as the Director, Research and Development, before being appointed Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and Development. In 2006 Professor Glover became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of Newcastle.

In 2009, Glover became the Vice-Chancellor of Charles Darwin University. He began his term as Vice-Chancellor of Western Sydney University in January, 2014.^[1]

In 2015, Glover was elected unopposed as the Chair of Universities Australia,^[2] the peak body representing the Australian university sector nationally and internationally. As chair, Glover was criticised in the media for his handling of sexual assaults and rapes at Australian universities.^[3] “Barney Glover, the head of Universities Australia, spent a full three minutes delivering an Oscars-style acceptance speech, thanking everyone involved but somehow forgetting to thank the actual students and rape survivors who are expected to divulge their gut wrenching stories as part of the research”^[4] and “It is very obvious now that the survey is about protecting universities' branding and less about a student voice or the survivors of sexual assault," Stapleton claimed. “The interference from UA has allowed vice chancellors and university management to escape blame and use the survey as a ‘tick the box’ measure, to make it look like they’re doing something about sexual assault on campus when they’re not.”^[5]

Glover is the Australian Government representative on the University of the South Pacific University Grants Committee.

Glover is a board member of the Museum of Applied Arts and Science Trust, and Education Services Australia.

Glover was the Chair of Innovative Research Universities. He is currently the Chair of Rare Voices Australia, a not-for profit organisation established to advocate for Australians living with a rare disease.

In 2016, Glover was nominated for the Bent Spoon award, annually bestowed upon "the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudo-scientific piffle" for his unbridled support of disproven and unproven complementary and integrative medicines.^[6] An unsuccessful attempt was made to block or remove this nomination, but after independent review, the nomination was maintained.^[7][8]

References