Professor John Germov is a highly accomplished executive leader and scholar, with over 30 years’ experience in the University sector and an exemplary 16-year leadership record that includes a sector-wide reputation for innovative and impactful change.

In his role as Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer at Victoria University (VU), Professor Germov strategically leads the portfolio, with overall responsibility for all of VU’s University and TAFE programs, including oversight of higher education academic colleges and the highly acclaimed VU First Year College and VU Block Model.

Professor Germov also has oversight of VU Online Pty Ltd, VU Global - international students, transnational and national education partnerships (VU Sydney and VU Brisbane), Wyndham and Brimbank Tech Schools, University libraries, Learning Design and Innovation, and Academic Quality and Standards.

He is accountable for academic governance, regulatory compliance, the quality of learning and teaching, and student outcomes, notably student success, satisfaction, and graduate employment.

Professor Germov’s leadership career is characterised by several themes:

  • student- and partner-centred education innovation
  • driving institutional culture change to improve performance
  • collaborative and inclusive evidenced based decision-making.

He is a passionate advocate for the transformational impact of university education, particularly through widening participation and creating an informed citizenry with a cosmopolitan outlook.

Prior to joining Victoria University, Professor Germov was Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Charles Sturt University, including a year as Interim Vice-Chancellor; and, formerly, he held the concurrent roles of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Education and Arts and Professor of Sociology at the University of Newcastle.

Professor Germov has a Bachelor of Arts from Chisholm Institute of Technology, a Master of Arts (Sociology) from Monash University, a PhD in Sociology from the University of Newcastle, and in 2019 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Newcastle in recognition of his impactful research and strategic leadership.

Contact details

Emily Ficarra
Executive Officer
+61 (3) 9919 5431

Recognition & awards

Professor Germov is an acknowledged national and international leader in academia, being the former President of the Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DASSH), President of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA), and member of the Executive Board of the International Sociological Association (ISA).

In 2016, he received an Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA) Award for Excellence in People and Culture.

In 2010, he received the prestigious national honour of Outstanding Service to The Australian Sociological Association Award.

 

Research activity

Professor Germov is a research-active Professor of Sociology, specialising in the social determinants of health, the social origins of food and alcohol habits, workplace change, and historical sociology.

He has published numerous books, articles and chapters, with recent books being:

  • Public Sociology: An Introduction to Australian Society (2023, 5e)
  • Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology (2019, 6e)
  • Hunter Wine: A History (2018), which was awarded Best Wine Book 2018 in the Wine Communicators of Australia Awards, and received a Special Mention in the 2019 Awards of the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin.