Steven Schwartz (vice-chancellor)
Encyclopedia
Steven Schwartz is an American and Australian academic and the current Vice Chancellor of Macquarie University
in Sydney
, Australia
. He was previously Vice Chancellor of Brunel University
in the UK
and of Murdoch University
in Western Australia.
Schwartz is a trained psychologist
and a university corporate manager by experience. He has publicly stated that he wishes universities to be more market-oriented, research-focused, accountable, transparent and held to higher standards, in the hope of improving the institutions' profiles and attracting more students, funding and researchers. This has included building new facilities and developing new schools in the universities he has managed such as Brunel University and Murdoch University. His style of management is not without controversy.
in 1946. After attending public schools, he entered Brooklyn College
of the City University of New York
. He was a National Merit Scholar finalist and he received a New York State Regent Scholarship. After leaving the City University of New York, he was commissioned an officer in the Public Health Service serving at the National Institute of Mental Health before completing a PhD degree at Syracuse University
as a US Public Health Service Fellow. He has also worked as a journalist, authoring many articles for research journals, magazines and newspapers.
. This led him to University of Texas
Medical Branch where he was a full-time researcher in psychiatry. In 1978 he moved to Australia to take up the position of Senior Lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Western Australia
in Perth. In 1980, he transferred to the University of Queensland
first as Reader and then as Professor of Psychology. He also served as visiting professor at Stanford University
in 1983 and Harvard University
in 1987.
Over these years, Schwartz’s research spanned clinical psychology, psychiatry, public health and medical decision making. He published over 100 articles in scientific journals, and 13 books including Medical Judgement and Decision Making (with Timothy Griffin), Childhood Psychopathology (with James Johnson, two editions), Pavlov’s Heirs and a well-known textbook on abnormal psychology, Abnormal Psychology, A Developmental Approach.
Schwartz was named one of the 100 highest cited researchers in his field and he received many recognitions including a World Health Organisation Fellowship, a NATO fellowship and the Australian Academy of Science-Royal Society (London) Exchange Fellowship. He was elected by his peers to the Academy of Social Sciences and he was elected Morris Leibovitz Fellow at the University of Southern California
. Schwartz is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, the Australian Institute of Company Directors
, and the Australian Institute of Management
. He was a visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
and he won the Brain Research Award of the British Red Cross Society. He was elected the first President of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society in Australia and was awarded the distinguished Career Scientist Award by the National Institutes of Health. He served on the editorial boards of many scientific journals and was a fellow of many learned societies.
In 1988 he was appointed Head of the University of Queensland Psychology Department and then elected by the academic staff of the university to be President of the Academic Board, a position to which he was re-elected for a second term. His experience as Head and then President gave him an interest in administration which he followed by moving back to Perth to take up the position of Executive Dean in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Australia
. He was the first medical Dean in Australia who was not a medical doctor. Although there was some scepticism about this among the medical establishment, Schwartz overcame this and his management came to the attention of the Murdoch University search committee which appointed Schwartz Vice Chancellor in 1996.
he introduced a number of Feeder Colleges, restructured the University to become more research-focused and developed new courses to attract additional students. He also designed and built a branch campus at Rockingham (which won the Prime Minister's Institutional Award in 1998). To provide a permanent endowment for the University, he undertook a $100 million land development program, which included a housing estate, obtained ISO9000 quality approval for administrative functions, outsourced non-core business operations such as catering, won the WA Premier's Award for public sector management in 2000, the Prime Minister's National Employer of the Year in 2000, the Telstra National Employer of the Year 2000 and 2002, the Prime Minister's Teaching Award 1998 and began a mentoring program for women. In 2001, in the midst of union activity over a new contract and the protection of low enrolment courses, some members of the local union branch issued a vote of no confidence in him.
in the United Kingdom
: a university with 2,400 staff, 13,000 students and a yearly budget of £140+ million. Brunel had decided under Michael Sterling, the previous VC, to refocus its mission on research. To help achieve this goal, the university under Schwartz sought to hire new research active staff, and, to help fund this, to reduce the number of non-research active staff (43 eventually accepted voluntary redundancy). The redundancy programme was highly controversial and was fiercely resisted by staff unions who ran a highly personalised campaign against Schwartz. As a part of the repositioning of the university, the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences was closed and the staff that didn't leave were redeployed (and one accepted voluntary redundancy). Despite the depleted staff base, Geography was still deemed strong enough to be returned in the 2008 RAE
when it received an average score of 2.15 out of a possible 5. Schwartz's changes were supposed to produce increased research output and RAE ratings, bolstering the economic viability of the university. Brunel moved up the university league tables, (but has since fallen back), international income doubled, entry scores of students rose, the first venture capital trust for a university was established, and management was completely restructured. Similar to the experience at Murdoch, cutbacks led to staff action, including picketing and paid ads on Google.
In 2004, Schwartz was asked by the British government to chair an inquiry into university admissions. This inquiry became the focus of much political interest and media coverage. The Schwartz report was completed in September 2004 and its recommendations were far-reaching and controversial. The reports can be found at Schwartz also led a national project on ethics for universities sponsored by the Council for Industry and Higher Education and Universities UK.
In 2007 a tribunal found Schwartz guilty of victimisation by an employment tribunal after he publicly implied that two members of Brunel staff had made unwarranted claims against the university. In 2005, after the two staff members had lost claims of race discrimination against the university, Professor Schwartz sent a report to the University Council criticising the pair (although neither were named). Bemoaning the expense of defending the cases, he referred to the two as having made "unwarranted demands for money" and described their claims as "unfounded", "unmeritorious" and "futile". The tribunal concluded that the claimants' sense of grievance was reasonable and justified: "Professor Schwartz's assertion that the claimants had made unwarranted demands for money was an implicit assertion of dishonesty on their part," it said. The earlier tribunal, while dismissing the cases of discrimination, had accepted that they were made in good faith. The tribunal awarded the two claimants £7,500 each as compensation for injury to their feelings, and said that, as Professor Schwartz and the university were equally responsible, so each should be liable for half of each award.
to take up the position of Vice Chancellor at Macquarie University
where he has begun to make similar changes to those imposed at Brunel. Arguing that he seeks to refocus the university around peaks of research excellence, he said that this would mean "moving from teaching the subjects teachers want to teach to the subjects students want to learn; ensuring institutional success rather than ensuring morale; and decentralising responsibility and accountability". So far, he has added more than 85 new research active staff, including a new group of postgraduate medical researchers, attracted hundreds of millions in new development funds and seen the university move up the Shanghai Jiao Tong ratings. In May 2008, he announced a search for an additional 43 staff. Schwartz has had to deal with a difficult legacy.
. There were run-ins with the former Vice-Chancellor, Di Yerbury.
Current union activity is being taken over staff contract conditions and issues regarding faculty and department funding. In September 2011 Macquarie University announced that Schwartz is to retire at the end of 2012.
, an Australasian libertarian thinktank "actively engaged in supporting a free enterprise economy and a free society under limited government where individuals can prosper and fully develop their talents". He is the Chair of the Minister's Advisory Committee on the Bologna Process. He also represents Australia on the Council of the University of the South Pacific
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He was previously Vice Chancellor of Brunel University
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and of Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
in Western Australia.
Schwartz is a trained psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and a university corporate manager by experience. He has publicly stated that he wishes universities to be more market-oriented, research-focused, accountable, transparent and held to higher standards, in the hope of improving the institutions' profiles and attracting more students, funding and researchers. This has included building new facilities and developing new schools in the universities he has managed such as Brunel University and Murdoch University. His style of management is not without controversy.
Education and early years
Steven Schwartz was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1946. After attending public schools, he entered Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. He was a National Merit Scholar finalist and he received a New York State Regent Scholarship. After leaving the City University of New York, he was commissioned an officer in the Public Health Service serving at the National Institute of Mental Health before completing a PhD degree at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
as a US Public Health Service Fellow. He has also worked as a journalist, authoring many articles for research journals, magazines and newspapers.
Academic career
He began his academic career teaching at the Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
. This led him to University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
Medical Branch where he was a full-time researcher in psychiatry. In 1978 he moved to Australia to take up the position of Senior Lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
in Perth. In 1980, he transferred to the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
first as Reader and then as Professor of Psychology. He also served as visiting professor at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1983 and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1987.
Over these years, Schwartz’s research spanned clinical psychology, psychiatry, public health and medical decision making. He published over 100 articles in scientific journals, and 13 books including Medical Judgement and Decision Making (with Timothy Griffin), Childhood Psychopathology (with James Johnson, two editions), Pavlov’s Heirs and a well-known textbook on abnormal psychology, Abnormal Psychology, A Developmental Approach.
Schwartz was named one of the 100 highest cited researchers in his field and he received many recognitions including a World Health Organisation Fellowship, a NATO fellowship and the Australian Academy of Science-Royal Society (London) Exchange Fellowship. He was elected by his peers to the Academy of Social Sciences and he was elected Morris Leibovitz Fellow at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Schwartz is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Australian Institute of Company Directors
The Australian Institute of Company Directors is Australia's leading membership body for directors in Australia and the leading Australian not-for-profit corporate governance organisation....
, and the Australian Institute of Management
Australian Institute of Management
The Australian Institute of Management is Australia's largest professional body for managers. The sole purpose of AIM is to promote the advancement of education and learning in the field of management and leadership for commerce, industry and government. It is not for profit entity with branches...
. He was a visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
and he won the Brain Research Award of the British Red Cross Society. He was elected the first President of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society in Australia and was awarded the distinguished Career Scientist Award by the National Institutes of Health. He served on the editorial boards of many scientific journals and was a fellow of many learned societies.
In 1988 he was appointed Head of the University of Queensland Psychology Department and then elected by the academic staff of the university to be President of the Academic Board, a position to which he was re-elected for a second term. His experience as Head and then President gave him an interest in administration which he followed by moving back to Perth to take up the position of Executive Dean in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
. He was the first medical Dean in Australia who was not a medical doctor. Although there was some scepticism about this among the medical establishment, Schwartz overcame this and his management came to the attention of the Murdoch University search committee which appointed Schwartz Vice Chancellor in 1996.
Murdoch University
During his tenure at Murdoch UniversityMurdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
he introduced a number of Feeder Colleges, restructured the University to become more research-focused and developed new courses to attract additional students. He also designed and built a branch campus at Rockingham (which won the Prime Minister's Institutional Award in 1998). To provide a permanent endowment for the University, he undertook a $100 million land development program, which included a housing estate, obtained ISO9000 quality approval for administrative functions, outsourced non-core business operations such as catering, won the WA Premier's Award for public sector management in 2000, the Prime Minister's National Employer of the Year in 2000, the Telstra National Employer of the Year 2000 and 2002, the Prime Minister's Teaching Award 1998 and began a mentoring program for women. In 2001, in the midst of union activity over a new contract and the protection of low enrolment courses, some members of the local union branch issued a vote of no confidence in him.
Brunel University
At the end of 2002, Schwartz was appointed Vice Chancellor of Brunel UniversityBrunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: a university with 2,400 staff, 13,000 students and a yearly budget of £140+ million. Brunel had decided under Michael Sterling, the previous VC, to refocus its mission on research. To help achieve this goal, the university under Schwartz sought to hire new research active staff, and, to help fund this, to reduce the number of non-research active staff (43 eventually accepted voluntary redundancy). The redundancy programme was highly controversial and was fiercely resisted by staff unions who ran a highly personalised campaign against Schwartz. As a part of the repositioning of the university, the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences was closed and the staff that didn't leave were redeployed (and one accepted voluntary redundancy). Despite the depleted staff base, Geography was still deemed strong enough to be returned in the 2008 RAE
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise is an exercise undertaken approximately every 5 years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British higher education institutions...
when it received an average score of 2.15 out of a possible 5. Schwartz's changes were supposed to produce increased research output and RAE ratings, bolstering the economic viability of the university. Brunel moved up the university league tables, (but has since fallen back), international income doubled, entry scores of students rose, the first venture capital trust for a university was established, and management was completely restructured. Similar to the experience at Murdoch, cutbacks led to staff action, including picketing and paid ads on Google.
In 2004, Schwartz was asked by the British government to chair an inquiry into university admissions. This inquiry became the focus of much political interest and media coverage. The Schwartz report was completed in September 2004 and its recommendations were far-reaching and controversial. The reports can be found at Schwartz also led a national project on ethics for universities sponsored by the Council for Industry and Higher Education and Universities UK.
In 2007 a tribunal found Schwartz guilty of victimisation by an employment tribunal after he publicly implied that two members of Brunel staff had made unwarranted claims against the university. In 2005, after the two staff members had lost claims of race discrimination against the university, Professor Schwartz sent a report to the University Council criticising the pair (although neither were named). Bemoaning the expense of defending the cases, he referred to the two as having made "unwarranted demands for money" and described their claims as "unfounded", "unmeritorious" and "futile". The tribunal concluded that the claimants' sense of grievance was reasonable and justified: "Professor Schwartz's assertion that the claimants had made unwarranted demands for money was an implicit assertion of dishonesty on their part," it said. The earlier tribunal, while dismissing the cases of discrimination, had accepted that they were made in good faith. The tribunal awarded the two claimants £7,500 each as compensation for injury to their feelings, and said that, as Professor Schwartz and the university were equally responsible, so each should be liable for half of each award.
Macquarie University
In 2006, Schwartz left Brunel, returning to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to take up the position of Vice Chancellor at Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
where he has begun to make similar changes to those imposed at Brunel. Arguing that he seeks to refocus the university around peaks of research excellence, he said that this would mean "moving from teaching the subjects teachers want to teach to the subjects students want to learn; ensuring institutional success rather than ensuring morale; and decentralising responsibility and accountability". So far, he has added more than 85 new research active staff, including a new group of postgraduate medical researchers, attracted hundreds of millions in new development funds and seen the university move up the Shanghai Jiao Tong ratings. In May 2008, he announced a search for an additional 43 staff. Schwartz has had to deal with a difficult legacy.
. There were run-ins with the former Vice-Chancellor, Di Yerbury.
Current union activity is being taken over staff contract conditions and issues regarding faculty and department funding. In September 2011 Macquarie University announced that Schwartz is to retire at the end of 2012.
Other roles
Schwartz is the Chairman of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and a member of the advisory boards of the Asia Society, the Global Foundation and the Centre for Independent StudiesCentre for Independent Studies
The Centre for Independent Studies is a libertarian think tank founded in April 1976 by Executive Director Greg Lindsay. The CIS is one of six think tanks recognised by the National Institute for Research Advancement in Tokyo, Japan...
, an Australasian libertarian thinktank "actively engaged in supporting a free enterprise economy and a free society under limited government where individuals can prosper and fully develop their talents". He is the Chair of the Minister's Advisory Committee on the Bologna Process. He also represents Australia on the Council of the University of the South Pacific