Prof Vanessa Lemm
Professor Vanessa Lemm
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Vanessa Lemm, FRSNSW, RSA, is a Professor of Political Philosophy and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University of Greenwich in London, UK.
With global experience in the tertiary sector, Vanessa is a decisive, strategic, visionary leader driven to create value for communities through transformative education and research.
With 15+ years’ experience in senior management, her leadership style is characterised by openness, integrity, and shared purpose. Building collaborative and high-performing teams based on mutual respect and trust, she champions diversity and inclusion. As a values-driven leader, Vanessa is inspired by working with teams who share her ambition to create meaningful change and solve complex problems with creativity and innovation. Vanessa has led organisations through transformation. With a deep commitment to positive change, she brings ambition, strategy, creativity and energy to problems faced by organisations and communities.
Throughout her career she has driven student-centred and career-ready learning design. She is passionate about the transformative impact of quality education experiences for individuals and communities. She has extensive leadership experience in curriculum innovation, internationalisation, quality assurance and governance.
She has an international reputation as a scholar, and for leading research innovation and collaboration that creates impact for communities and industries. She strongly believes that universities deliver value by engaging and collaborating with communities, industries, and students.
Vanessa is passionate about tackling the global challenges of our time. Informed by an international perspective, knowledge and hands-on experience, she has a vision for the role of universities and industries in understanding and addressing the economic, social and political problems our societies face today.
An active researcher and philosopher, Vanessa explores the relationship between the human being and its natural and social environments. Her research prompts us to consider ourselves in relation to nature, and the responsibilities we each have for the environment and communities we live in.
Bringing together her academic expertise and leadership experience, Vanessa is interested in how large organisations can create positive change through focused action on the environmental, social and governance aspects of their operations.
Vanessa has a thoroughly international profile. She completed her PhD in Philosophy at the New School of Social Research in New York, MA at King’s College University of London and DEA at the University of Paris, Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne. She held positions in the US, Germany and Chile. She was a Guest Professor funded by the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Art, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
EXPERTISE:
Strategy development and implementation
Complex organisational change design and implementation
Planning and accountability processes
People management and leadership
Leader development, coaching and mentoring
Developing and leading vibrant research ecosystems
Strong industry partnerships for engagement and impact
Business and opportunity development at scale
Deep innovation and entrepreneurship
Student-centred curriculum innovation and technology enhanced pedagogies
International higher education landscape, student recruitment and partnerships
LANGUAGES: English (fluent), German (fluent), French (fluent), Spanish (fluent), Italian (fair)