University of Melbourne appoints new Dean for the Faculty of Arts

Image of the Old Arts Clock Tower in the University of Melbourne Parkville campus.

Professor Russell Goulbourne has been appointed as the new Dean for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Goulbourne is currently Professor of French Literature at King’s College London, where he was also Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities from January 2014 to July 2018.

Announcing the results of a global search for the new Dean, University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis said that Professor Goulbourne’s extensive teaching, research and leadership experience made him a wonderful choice to lead the faculty.

“Professor Goulbourne is a highly respected scholar in his field of French Literature and a skilled and experienced academic leader. He has a deep commitment to the role of the humanities, social sciences and languages at the University and a positive vision for the future of the Faculty of Arts,” Professor Davis said.

“We are delighted to welcome Professor Goulbourne to the University of Melbourne, where he will take up his new role in January 2019.”

A graduate of the University of Oxford, Professor Goulbourne taught in the Department of French at the University of Leeds between 2000 and 2013. He also served as Head of Department from 2008 to 2011.

He moved to King’s College London in 2014 to take up his post as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

He is passionate about 17th and 18th-century French literature and drama, is a member of the Editorial Board of the Voltaire Foundation’s Oeuvres completes de Voltaire, and serves as co-editor of French Studies, the journal of the Society for French Studies, published by Oxford University Press.

Professor Goulbourne holds a Master of Arts, Master of Studies and Doctor of Philosophy, all from the University of Oxford.