Professor Michelle Foster appointed Dean of Melbourne Law School
Professor Michelle Foster has been appointed the Dean of the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Foster is currently the Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the Melbourne Law School. Elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, she is a leading international authority on refugee law, human rights and statelessness. Professor Foster previously served as Associate Dean (Research and Research Training) at the Melbourne Law School from 2014-2017.
Professor Foster established the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness in 2018 with generous philanthropic support from Peter and Ruth McMullin. The Centre is the world’s only university-based interdisciplinary centre dedicated to studying and finding solutions to this global issue.
Since its inception the Centre has established itself as a preeminent expert resource for governments, international organisations, decision-makers, civil society, journalists, students and scholars, and other key stakeholders focused on the objective of eradicating and preventing statelessness and protecting and supporting stateless people.
Last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi gave a public address at the Melbourne Law School, focusing on the challenges of protecting displaced people globally. This was the first visit to Australia by a UNHCR High Commissioner since 2012 and Mr Grandi’s only public address while in Australia. The event, hosted by the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, was chaired by Professor Foster.
Professor Foster has a global reputation as one of the leading scholars of international refugee and statelessness law, and her research has had a high impact in scholarship, public policy and debate, and jurisprudence globally. Professor Foster is also a Research Associate at the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre and Research Affiliate at the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.
She joined the Melbourne Law School in 2005 and is recognised for her deep commitment to advancing legal education, including in curriculum development. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons Class 1 and University Medal) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW and a Master of Laws and Doctor of the Science of Laws from the University of Michigan, where she studied as a Michigan Grotius Fellow.
Her appointment follows an international search and selection process.
Professor Foster said: "I am delighted to be appointed to the role of Dean of the Melbourne Law School. I look forward to leading the exceptional staff at MLS and supporting our outstanding students across all programs, as well as working closely with our extensive alumni, partners and stakeholders.”
“I am deeply committed to supporting an inclusive community within MLS with a strong focus on a high-quality student experience.”
Reflecting on her time as Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at Melbourne Law School, Professor Foster said: “Statelessness is a serious human rights issue affecting millions of people globally. Only those who have experienced statelessness can truly understand the impact and reality of deprivation and discrimination that is often the hallmark of being without a nationality.
"It has been an honour to serve as the inaugural Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, responding to the urgent need for research to understand the causes of statelessness and develop policy responses to this significant but historically overlooked human rights issue.”
Professor Foster starts in the role on 30 September 2024, taking over from Professor Alison Duxbury, who has been Interim Dean since 20May.
The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness will now undertake a search for its next director.