Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO
Professor Marie Bashir was elected Chancellor of the University of Sydney on 1 June 2007, and has been re-elected for a second term of office commencing on 1 June 2011.
Born, of Lebanese descent, in Narrandera in the Riverina district of NSW, and educated at Narrandera Public School and Sydney Girls High School, she gained her bachelor degrees in medicine and surgery in 1956 from the University of Sydney.
She taught at the universities of Sydney and New South Wales, increasingly working with children's services, psychiatry and mental health services, and Indigenous health programs.
She was appointed Governor of New South Wales on 1 March 2001, the first woman to hold the position. At the time of her appointment, she was Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney (a post she took up in 1993); Area Director of Mental Health Services Central Sydney (from 1994); and Senior Consultant to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern (from 1996) and to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Kempsey.
Professor Bashir's widespread involvements and interests have included juvenile justice, research on adolescent depression, health issues in developing countries, education for health professionals and telemedicine and new technologies for health service delivery.
About the Senate
The Senate is the governing authority of the University of Sydney and has the functions conferred or imposed on it by or under the University of Sydney Act 1989 (as amended).
The Senate oversees all major decisions concerning the conduct of the University, including staff appointments and welfare, student welfare and discipline, financial matters and the physical and academic development of the University. It awards all degrees and diplomas and is responsible to the Parliament of NSW.
The Senate is chaired by the Chancellor, currently Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO. The Chancellor is elected by Senate for a four-year term.