USQ welcomes new Heads of Schools

USQ has officially welcomed its inaugural Heads of Schools to the University.

Dean of the Faculty of Business, Professor Allan Layton, officially welcomed Professor Peter Best (School of Accounting, Economics & Finance), Professor Doren Chadee (School of Management & Marketing) and Professor Geraldine Mackenzie (School of Law), to the Faculty, while acknowledging the work of Professor Mark Toleman, who will continue in the position of Head of the School of Information Systems.

'This is an important time for us and marks our development from a department structure to a school structure," Professor Layton said.

'Professors Best, Chadee and Mackenzie have a lot of experience in management, the design and delivery of programs and they are very active and accomplished researchers, so I believe we will be very well served by our new Heads of School.'

Professor Best comes to USQ from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where his principal areas of expertise include auditing, operations research and information technology.

Prior to QUT, Peter held academic positions at the University of Queensland, Newcastle University, Adelaide University and Flinders University.

'I am delighted to be here. There are plenty of challenges and I am looking forward to working with the staff in the Faculty,' Professor Best said.

Head of the School of Management and Marketing, Professor Chadee, migrated from New Zealand for the position, where he worked as the Head of the Department of International Business at University of Auckland for the past six years.

'People keep asking me my first impression of USQ and that is that it is very friendly and the people are very kind.'

Doren's research has focused on international business and he is very well published in the areas of globalisation and international management and marketing.

Head of the School of Law, Geraldine Mackenzie, comes to USQ from QUT, where she gained extensive experience in learning and teaching, university management, course and program design. Her principal research and teaching interest is in criminal law and sentencing.

'I moved up here on recently and it genuinely feels like I have moved from the QUT family to the USQ family. I am looking forward to working at the University.'

Professor Layton also took the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of the Acting Heads of School.

'Thanks to our Acting Heads of Schools and those individuals who stepped in and stepped up during this transition phase,' he said.

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628