Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (External Engagement and Partnerships)

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement and Partnerships) is responsible for deepening and expanding UTS's relationships with the public and private sectors, and driving the development of partnerships, collaborations and ventures that create real value and impact.

Staff Profile

headshot of Alana Piper

Dr Alana Piper

Dr Alana Piper is the inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement and Partnerships), a new division focused on enhancing UTS's relationships and collaboration with the public and private sectors.

Dr Piper's portfolio brings together key functions including Business Creation and Major Facilities, Alumni and Advancement, Marketing and Communications, Enterprise Learning, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Partnerships. It aims to provide a holistic, connected strategic approach to the university's interactions with the broader world, and to enable and support a culture of mutually beneficial collaboration with government, business and industry at all levels.

Prior to joining UTS, Dr Piper was the founding Director of Ventures at The Australian Financial Review (AFR), where she leveraged untapped value and capabilities within the masthead to build a hugely successful portfolio of editorially-aligned businesses that reinforced the Financial Review's dominant position in market, as well as contributing significantly to its bottom line. She has expertise in creating and growing businesses, driving external engagement, building transformative partnerships and managing brand and reputation.

In addition to her commercial and corporate experience, Dr Piper is well acquainted with the university sector. She was a Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford, where she completed her doctorate in history, and she has consulted to various universities – including Oxford and UTS – in areas of external engagement over the past two decades. She was also the driving force behind the Financial Review’s Higher Education Summit, Higher Education Awards, and Best Universities Rankings, and a regular commentator on science and education.

Portfolio

Contact

Jennifer Cooper
Executive Assistant

+61 2 9514 1332

Jennifer.Cooper@uts.edu.au

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.