Professor Stephen Rodda

Stephen Rodda is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Industry and Innovation. He is responsible for providing strategic leadership across all facets of UNSW’s industry engagement, knowledge transfer, business development and commercialisation, and oversight of the Entrepreneurial Campus.

The aim of the portfolio is to bring together aspects of innovation and enterprise from students, staff, and alumni across the research spectrum, nurture the entrepreneurial spirit and know-how, and guide the University to ensure that our research translates to real world outcomes to help position UNSW as Australia’s pre-eminent entrepreneurial University.

Stephen’s professional career has focused on technology commercialisation, corporate governance, executive leadership and investment portfolio management.

He’s played an active role in supporting hundreds of technology licensing deals, the formation and financing of dozens of companies and securing well in excess of $500 million in investments, grants and other funding.

His experience as Director or Chief Executive of companies commercialising technologies at various stages of development has given Stephen a unique breadth of expertise in driving outcomes for technologies and companies with high-growth potential and across a range of industry sectors.

As a Non-Executive Director and Chair of companies such as Myriota Pty Ltd, BiomeBank and Ferronova Pty Ltd, he has built management teams, raised capital and supported expansion into global markets.

With a proven record in investment portfolio management and for structuring and negotiating a variety of deals types, Stephen has a truly international outlook with an established and demonstrated network of executive-level contacts across a variety of academic, government, commercial and investment groups in Asia, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia.

Stephen was educated at the University of Adelaide gaining a first-class Honours degree, a PhD in Biochemistry and was awarded the University Medal. Subsequently he was awarded the prestigious CJ Martin and Arthritis Foundation fellowships for post-doctoral training at Harvard University. He holds an MBA, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has trained at the Harvard Business School.