University of Wollongong Chancellor Christine McLoughlin has announced she will resign after just three years at the helm, saying it was hard to balance the job with her corporate and non-profit executive roles.
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Ms McLoughlin was praised for her "tireless dedication and distinction" by Vice-Chancellor Patricia Davidson.
The university said it would now engage an external recruitment firm to find a new chancellor - UOW's fifth in its history.
Ms McLoughlin is also chairman of bank and insurer Suncorp, director of hearing aid maker Cochlear, and chairman of the Minerva Network of businesswoman who mentor and support women in the business of sport.
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She said these responsibilities also required a high level of engagement.
"All organisations are operating in an increasingly complex environment," Ms McLoughlin said in a statement.
"This has meant over the past twelve months it has been increasingly challenging to balance the extensive responsibilities of chancellor with my other professional business and not-for-profit responsibilities.
"My other roles equally require a high level of stakeholder and government interaction, which I don't see abating in the future.
"As such, it is with great sadness, that I have made the very difficult decision to step down as chancellor later this year."
Ms McLoughlin had been at the helm throughout the COVID-19 pandemic which rocked Australia's university sector - an experience she called "a privilege".
"My appointment as chancellor was announced in April 2020, which we now know marked the start of a period of global turbulence that no one could have foreshadowed," Ms McLoughlin said.
"To be the Chancellor of UOW as we worked our way through the challenges posed by the global pandemic has been a privilege."
Ms McLoughlin was the fourth chancellor at UOW since its establishment as a university in 1975.
The late Robert Hope served as chancellor for 22 years from 1975 to 1997, Michael Codd for 12 years from 1997 to 2009, and Jillian Broadbent for 11 from 2009 to 2020.
An earlier version of this story said Ms McLoughlin was chancellor for 2.5 years. It was in fact three years.
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Ben Langford
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
