Dawn Freshwater is a British academic, university professor,

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

researcher, and the incumbent

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 of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Early life and education

Freshwater was born in a mining family in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, with two younger brothers. She left school at the age of 15 because her parents became unwell. Freshwater trained as a nurse and was the first member of her family to attend university. Her doctoral research investigated the impact of

transformative learning Transformative learning, as a theory, says that the process of "perspective transformation" has three dimensions: psychological (changes in understanding of the self), convictional (revision of belief systems), and behavioral (changes in lifestyle ...

on nursing students for which she awarded a PhD by the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in 1998.

Research and career

In 2006 Freshwater joined the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. Her research concentrated on

forensic psychology Forensic psychology is the development and application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes both research on various ...

, and studied the impact of marginalised groups with severe

issues. Freshwater was appointed the Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC) at the

in 2011. She led the School of Medicine application for an

Athena SWAN Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) is a quality charter mark framework and accreditation scheme established and managed by the UK Equality Challenge Unit (now part of Advance HE) in 2005 that recognises and celebrates good practi ...

award and served a member of the assessment panel for the

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is underta ...

(REF). During this time, she served on the Council of Deans for Nursing and

Midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

and was a trustee of the

Florence Nightingale Foundation The Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) is a charity organisation in the United Kingdom that provides scholarships to nurses, midwives, and other health professionals while serving as a living memorial of the work of Florence Nightingale. His ...

. In 2014 Freshwater moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Freshwater joined 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 ...

as Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor in 2016. In 2017 she was made the Vice Chancellor, and led the first Inclusion and Division strategy. She was the first woman to be made Chair of the

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014. The forum originated ...

in 2018. She also led the

Matariki ), signalling the Māori new year., litcolor=, observedby=New Zealanders, nickname=, official_name=, alt=, image=M45 Pleiades Pbkwee (cropped to core 9 stars).jpg, relatedto=, date2022=24 June, date2023=14 July In Māori culture, Matariki is the ...

network of universities. At the

Freshwater established the Public Policy Institute, which translates research into real-world solutions for the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region. In 2019 Freshwater became the first woman to be appointed Vice Chancellor of the

Publications

She has authored and co-authored numerous publications including: * ''Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions : a user's guide'' *''Therapeutic Nursing'' *''Emotions And Needs (Core Concepts in Therapy)'' *''Blackwell's Nursing Dictionary'' *Counselling Skills For Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitor *''International Textbook of Reflective Practice in Nursing''

Awards and honours

In 2001 Freshwater was elected

Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned society, learned or professional society, professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. ...

(FRCN).

Personal life

Freshwater is a marathon runner and has completed the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

seven times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freshwater, Dawn 1962 births Living people Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing University of Western Australia vice-chancellors Women heads of universities and colleges British nurses