Professor Ian Jacobs took up the role of President and Vice-Chancellor of UNSW Sydney in 2015 and has been Chair of the Group of 8 universities since February 2018. Prior to moving to Australia he was based in the UK combining roles as a cancer surgeon and Professor of Women’s Health, with leadership roles as Dean of Biomedicine at University College London (2009-11) and Vice President of the University of Manchester (2011-15).
He trained in medicine at Cambridge University and the University of London and for 30 years has led a research team working on screening for ovarian cancer. He is a Board member of Research Australia, the Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHERT), Ovarian Cancer Australia and The Conversation and is Chair of the Sydney Partnership for Health Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE). In 2005 he established the Uganda Women’s Health Initiativeand he is a non-Executive Director of Abcodia Ltd a diagnostics company he founded as a spin out from his research.
Since joining UNSW he has led an ambitious ‘UNSW 2025 Strategy’ focused around the role of the university in serving society, through research excellence, innovation in education, social engagement, knowledge transfer and global impact.
