The term of the current governor, Linda Dessau, will expire on Friday, June 30.
Prof Gardner will commence a five-year term on Wednesday, August 9, after she concludes in her current role with Monash University.
During the interim period before Prof Gardner’s inauguration, Lieutenant-Governor James Angus will serve as acting governor.
A prominent and well-respected academic with a background in economics, industrial relations and organisational management, Prof Gardner has had a distinguished career in Australia’s university sector and abroad.
As the first woman to lead Monash University, Prof Gardner has served as president and vice chancellor since 2014.
She previously served as president and vice chancellor at RMIT University between 2005 and 2014, and has also held executive leadership and senior academic positions at the University of Queensland and Griffith University.
Prof Gardner was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, spending time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
In 2007, Prof Gardner was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her service to tertiary education — particularly in the areas of gender equity and university governance — and to industrial relations.
In 2020, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for her eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.
Prof Gardner was chair of the Group of Eight Universities in Australia from 2020 until 2023, and chair of Universities Australia from 2017 to 2019.
She has also been a member of a range of boards and committees, including Infrastructure Victoria, Museums Victoria, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board and the Australian Technology Network.
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