Jacinda Ardern takes up leadership role at the University of Sydney

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is joining the University of Sydney as a professor of practice, with a role focused on leadership, public health, civic trust and global challenges. The university says she will begin in October and work with students, researchers and staff across several initiatives. Ardern said she was delighted to join the institution and that, since leaving office, she had become especially interested in leadership and how to support the kind of leadership needed to address major global challenges. The position is not a full-time teaching post. According to the article, she will be based at the School of Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health and work with the Sydney Policy Lab and the vice-chancellor’s office. Her contribution is expected to include guest lectures, masterclasses and mentoring. University vice-chancellor and president Mark Scott praised Ardern’s record, saying she had led New Zealand through events of profound consequence and demonstrated that empathy and resolve could reinforce one another. He said students would have the opportunity to learn from both her experience as a former prime minister and her perspective on public service. Ardern served as New Zealand’s prime minister from 2017 to 2023, a period that included the Christchurch terrorist attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Whakaari volcanic eruption. Her governments also championed policies on housing, child poverty and climate change, as described in the report. After leaving office, she held fellowships at Harvard University and Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. Her move to Sydney brings her into a university role where, the article says, she will work alongside Australian colleagues and contribute to discussions on public policy and leadership.