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Professor G.Q. Max Lu AO is the sixth Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Wollongong, a position he has held since May 2025. A globally recognised chemical engineer and advanced materials scientist, he brings more than 35 years of academic leadership, research excellence and industry engagement to the role. Professor Lu previously served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2025. Prior to that, he spent two decades at the University of Queensland, progressing from senior lecturer to chair professor and holding senior leadership positions including Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Linkages), Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Provost and Senior Vice-President.
Professor Lu graduated with a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering in 1983 and a Master of Thermal Engineering in 1986 from Northeastern University in China. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland in 1991. An internationally renowned researcher in nanotechnology and materials science, he has published more than 600 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds 25 international patents. He founded the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials and served as its inaugural director for eight years. He was awarded ARC Federation Fellowships in both 2003 and 2008. In recognition of his contributions, Professor Lu was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 and received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Wollongong in 2018. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, among other distinctions. He has served on the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, as a Director of UK Research and Innovation, and as a member of the Australian Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
The HEDx 2026 Conference at the University of Technology Sydney brings together leaders to address AI, student partnerships, and institutional transformation in Australian higher education.
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