Rebekah Brown
Rebekah Brown | |
|---|---|
| Interim Vice-Chancellor and President of the Australian National University | |
| Assumed office September 2025 | |
| Chancellor | Julie Bishop |
| Preceded by | Genevieve Bell |
| Provost and Senior Vice-President of the Australian National University | |
| Assumed office June 2024 | |
| Chancellor | Julie Bishop |
| Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Senior Vice-President at Monash University | |
| In office June 2021 – May 2024 | |
| Senior Vice-Provost (Research) at Monash University | |
| In office January 2018 – June 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Monash University (BE (Hons)), University of New South Wales (PhD) |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Institutionalisation of integrated urban stormwater management: multiple-case analysis of local management reform across metropolitan Sydney (2003) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Environmental Studies |
| Institutions | |
Main interests | Urban water management, sustainable development, water-sensitive cities, transdisciplinary research |
Rebekah Ruth Brown is an Australian academic who is a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and served as interim vice-chancellor and president of the Australian National University since September 2025. Her research specializes in urban water management, sustainable development, and transdisciplinary methods. [1]
Education
Brown holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree with honors from Monash University.[2] She completed a PhD in Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales in 2003, with a doctoral thesis titled "Institutionalization of integrated urban stormwater management: multiple-case analysis of local management reform across metropolitan Sydney."[3]
Brown worked as a civil engineer on infrastructure projects across the United Kingdom, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa.[1]
Academic career
Brown has worked in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the social and biophysical sciences in sustainable water management since the early 2000s.[4]
Brown co-founded the water-sensitive cities research platform at Monash University. She was involved in establishing the $120 million (AUD) Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, comprising 86 partner organizations and over 170 researchers.[5] In this role, she served as Chief Research Officer and inaugural Society-themed Program Leader, overseeing research outcomes from more than 100 researchers and 40 doctoral students across multiple institutions and 20 disciplines.[2]
Brown's research has been cited in UN-Habitat's formulation of policy on urban drainage (2014–2017), in a UNESCO analysis of 33 cities (2012), and by the Asian Development Bank in framing water infrastructure investment strategies.[4]
In June 2024, Brown was appointed Provost and Senior Vice-President of the Australian National University, serving as the senior deputy to the Vice-Chancellor.[6] Following the resignation of Genevieve Bell in September 2025, Brown was appointed interim Vice-Chancellor and President of ANU.[7] She has committed to serving in this role until at least the end of 2026.[7]
Brown announced the end of the "Renew ANU" restructuring program and committed to no forced redundancies.[8] She outlined three key objectives: creating stability, rebuilding trust, and developing a new strategic direction for the university.[9] Brown served simultaneously as both provost and interim vice-chancellor during this period, with no separate interim provost appointed.[10]
Research and publications
Brown has published over 220 papers in journals, including Nature, Science, Global Environmental Change, and Water Research.[1] Her work has an h-index of 50 and more than 12,800 citations.[1]
Personal life
Brown was the first person in her family to attend university.[7] She studied engineering as one of only three women in her undergraduate cohort.[7]
External links
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Professor Rebekah Brown". Australian National University. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- 1 2 Monash University. "Professor Rebekah Brown". International Women's Day 2021, Monash University. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Brown, Rebekah Ruth (2003). Institutionalisation of integrated urban stormwater management: multiple-case analysis of local management reform across metropolitan Sydney (Thesis thesis). UNSW Sydney.
- 1 2 Monash University. "Global slum revitalisation research looks at water, sanitation and sustainable development". Monash University. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Rebekah Brown". The Conversation. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ Diaz, Amanda (2024-03-27). "ANU announces new Provost". ANU Reporter. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- 1 2 3 4 Vineet, Anushka (2025-09-25). "Who is the New Interim VC Rebekah Brown?". ANU Observer. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ "ANU Renewed? Interim Vice-Chancellor Announces No More Forced Redundancies". ANU Observer. 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ Chia, Paris (2025-09-18). "WoroniInterim Vice Chancellor Rebekah Brown Takes Over". Woroni. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ "First phase of a new ANU gets under way: hear from Rebekah Brown". www.canberratimes.com.au. 2025-10-18. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- Living people
- Academic staff of the Australian National University
- Academic staff of Monash University
- Monash University alumni
- University of New South Wales alumni
- Australian civil engineers
- Australian women engineers
- Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- Australian women academics
- Vice-chancellors of the Australian National University
- Environmental scientists
- Urban planners
- Australian environmental scientists
- Women heads of universities and colleges
- 21st-century Australian scientists
- 21st-century Australian women scientists