Attila Brungs is the Vice-Chancellor and President of 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-intensiv ...

. He was appointed to the role in January 2022. Prior to this role, he was the Vice-Chancellor and President of 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 ...

(UTS); a role that he held from July 2014 to October 2022.

Career

Brungs has been a researcher in both industry and academia, with interests in the area of

heterogeneous catalysis In chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis is catalysis where the phase of catalysts differs from that of the reactants or products. The process contrasts with homogeneous catalysis where the reactants, products and catalyst exist in the same phase. ...

. Brungs is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. As

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of UTS, Brungs has been instrumental in the university's rise to Australia's position among the world's top young universities, including supporting the transformation of the UTS campus with the addition of the

Dr Chau Chak Wing Building Dr Chau Chak Wing Building is a business school building of the University of Technology Sydney in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the first building in Australia designed by Canadian American architect Frank Gehry. Description The ...

, designed by Frank Gehry, the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Building, the Vicki Sara Building and the

UTS Central UTS Central, also known as Building 2, is the building housing the Faculty of Law and UTS Library at the University of Technology Sydney. It is the final building to be opened under the A$1 billion City Campus Master Plan. The building is desig ...

Building through a $1.5 billion campus master plan. Central to Brungs' approach at UTS has been collaboration, engaging with industry to tackle real-world research problems and the community to tackle social justice issues. Under his stewardship, the university's commitment to delivering positive social good has been strengthened through the creation of UTS's Social Impact Framework. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UTS in September 2009, Brungs was General Manager, Science Investment, Strategy and Performance at CSIRO. His role incorporated the determination of broad research direction and resource allocation, performance monitoring of CSIRO research programs, including its flagship programs, and the development and implementation of organisational strategy. Before joining CSIRO in 2002, Brungs was a senior manager at McKinsey and Co, managing teams in North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Some of Brungs' present key appointments include th
NSW Innovation and Productivity Council
Committee for Sydney Board; Convenor, NSW Vice-Chancellor's Committee; Chair,

Australian Technology Network The Australian Technology Network (ATN) is a network of six Australian universities, with a strong history of innovation, enterprise and working closely with industry. ATN traces its origins back to 1975 as the Directors of Central Institutes of ...

; and the ATSE Diversity and Equity Committee. His experience includes many distinguished past board and committee memberships, including for not-for-profit organisations, in addition to numerous state and federal government and institutional appointments.

Education

Brungs is a Rhodes Scholar, with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in inorganic chemistry from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, and a recipient of the University Medal in Industrial Chemistry from

UNSW 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 ...

. He is an alumnus of Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney.

Personal life

Brungs grew up in Sydney and is married to artist Kate Gradwell. Brungs and Gradwell have two children together. He is a member of the Sydney Sabre and UTS Fencing Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brungs, Attila Australian academic administrators Living people Alumni of the University of Oxford Australian Rhodes Scholars University of Technology Sydney faculty Australian chemists University of New South Wales alumni People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering 1972 births