Dr David Halliwell

David is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Partnerships, at Deakin University. David is a researcher at heart with a focus on engaging with industry to understand and solve their problems. David's senior executive experience extends across the public, private and university sectors. David has a strong partnership and governance focus, including chairing and participating on a range of Boards and Advisory committees. David represents Deakin on numerous external collaborations, including as Deputy Chair of the Investor Oversight Committee for the multi-million-dollar Victorian Drought Hub and as a Board member for Universal Motion Simulators Pty Ltd.

David has a passion for education and research, and he derives great satisfaction from helping others to advance their careers and to extend the work of the University into the community. He has been an advocate for promoting more diversity in STEM and specifically has worked hard to improve gender balance. He also strives to further his knowledge and understanding of how we can improve diversity outcomes and minimise unconscious bias.

David has held several senior leadership roles with Deakin, including Acting Executive Dean (SEBE) following the departure of the incumbent in 2022, Deputy Executive Dean (SEBE), Director of Research Partnerships (SEBE) and Director of the Centre for Regional and Rural Futures (CeRRF). Since joining Deakin in 2015, David has focussed strongly on connecting the University with industry. The success of these efforts have been demonstrated by the substantial growth in industry research income.

Prior to joining Deakin in 2015, David was Chief Executive Officer for Water Research Australia Ltd (WaterRA), one of a very few research companies to successfully evolve from a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). While in this role, and working in collaboration with the Board, David created a new company strategy (including changing the company name and constitution), which was the catalyst for the growth and the success of WaterRA today. David started his research career with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries research division in 1997, where he was a Research Director prior to leaving the Department in 2008.

David has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemistry (Monash University, 1998), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Monash University, 2003), a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours (Deakin University, 1993) and he is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD, 2012).