Alexander (Alec) John Cameron (born 5 February 1963) is an Australian engineer and university administrator, currently serving as Vice-Chancellor and President of

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

Early life and education

Cameron was educated at

Knox Grammar School , motto_translation = The Manly Thing Is Being Done , established = , founder = John Gilmore, William McIlrath, Robert Gillespie and Andrew Reid , type = Independent, day & boarding ...

(1969–1980) where he was school captain in Year 12. He attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in 1981–1985, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pure Mathematics and Physics in 1984, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree with First Class Honours and the University Medal in 1986. While at Sydney University he played in the breakaway (flanker) position in the university club's first grade

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

XV. He was selected as the

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

for New South Wales in 1986. At the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, he was a member of

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

, and obtained his DPhil in the Robotics Research Group in 1989, under the supervision of

Hugh Durrant-Whyte Hugh Francis Durrant-Whyte (born 6 February 1961) is a British-Australian engineer and academic. He is known for his pioneering work on probabilistic methods for robotics. The algorithms developed in his group since the early 1990s permit autono ...

. He was a member of

Oxford University Rugby Football Club The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

and won a Blue in Rugby in 1988.

Career

Cameron joined Philips Research Laboratories in Briarcliff Manor, New York, as a Senior Member of Research Staff from 1989 to 1993. He then returned to Sydney in 1993 as the founding Program Director of the Australian Graduate School of Engineering Innovation; an Advanced Engineering Centre, jointly established by the

and the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

. Cameron then joined Telstra Corporation, holding several senior roles from 1996 to 2000. He then held other positions in the IT sector, with Comindico, Alcatel and Sun Microsystems. In 2003, he joined the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resource and Infrastructure). In 2006, he led a review of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics and the Australian Graduate School of Management, leading to a recommendation for their merger, He was appointed as the inaugural dean to achieve this merger and lead the newly-created

UNSW Business School The UNSW Business School at the University of New South Wales is a business school located in Sydney, Australia. The school offers 42 programs, including 26 undergraduate and 26 specialist master's degrees, as well as six MBA and executive prog ...

, holding this position until December, 2012. He was president of the Australian Business Deans' Council from 2014-2015. Cameron commenced as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, in January, 2013. In 2015, he attended the Advanced Management Program at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. He commenced as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...

in September, 2016. In 2018, he was one of 5 candidates for

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

University Award for the Most Inspiring Leader. Cameron has held several Board positions in association with his role at Aston including: * Board member of

Midlands Innovation Midlands Innovation is a group of eight universities in the Midlands of England. It was formed (as M5) in August 2012 by the universities of Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick in order to boost equipment sharing between m ...

and Chair from 2019-2021. * Board member of Universities West Midlands and Chair from 2017-2019. * Board member of Midlands Engine from 2019-2021. * Board member of the

Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership The Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) is one of 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships set up by Government to drive economic development in England. Established in May 2011, the LEP covers the geographical boundaries o ...

2019-2021. He commenced as Vice-Chancellor and President of

in January 2022.

Personal life

Cameron married Elizabeth Jane Kellaway in Sydney on 18 July 1987. They have a daughter (Molly) and son (Hugh).

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Alec Living people Vice-Chancellors of Aston University University of Sydney alumni Alumni of University College, Oxford Australian Rhodes Scholars University of Western Australia faculty University of New South Wales faculty 1963 births