Professor Edwina Cornish spent 11 years in various leadership roles in an Australian biotech company, Calgene Pacific (later named Florigene) before becoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Adelaide. In 2004, Professor Cornish joined Monash as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and then in 2012, she was appointed Monash’s inaugural Provost and Senior Vice-President; a position she held until her retirement in 2016. Professor Cornish has extensive experience working at the interface between government, research, industry and the higher education sector. She is currently a member of a number of Boards including CSIRO.