Professor Chris Brink

Professor Chris Brink took up his position of Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University on 1 August 2007. He is the academic and executive head of the university.

Before taking up his position at Newcastle, Professor Brink was Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where he led a transformation agenda which attracted national and international attention. By the end of 2006 Professor Brink was able to report, not only that Stellenbosch had been positioned as one of the top three universities in South Africa, but also that the number of black students had increased by more than 50 per cent during his term of office. He was reappointed for a second term, but left during 2007 to take up his position at Newcastle. While at Stellenbosch he also served as Chair of the Advisory Board of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, a Trustee of the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis, and the Honorary Colonel of the Military Academy of South Africa. At local level he teamed up with the Executive Mayor in an initiative called 'Reinventing Stellenbosch', with a regional development agenda.

Before going to Stellenbosch, Professor Brink served as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong (UoW) in Australia. While at UoW, he restructured the university's activities in research, innovation and commercialisation.  Besides his university commitments, he served as a Board member of several organisations, including a company in high performance computing (at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney), the Regional Development Board, and the interim Board of the national Cooperative Research Centre for Smart Internet Technology. Before going to Australia, Professor Brink served as Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. After the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994 he was involved in the restructuring of UCT, and served as Coordinator of Strategic Planning. Other positions include a Senior Research Fellowship at the Australian National University in the 1980s, a brief spell in industry in the USA, sabbatical and other leave periods at Oxford University, and intermittent visits to many other European universities.

He is a logician with a Cambridge PhD, an interdisciplinary DPhil, Master’s degrees in philosophy and mathematics, and a Bachelor’s degree in computer science. His research areas include mathematics, logic, philosophy and computer science, and he has published in all these fields. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a former President of the South African Mathematical Society and a Founder Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. Before moving into management he held the prestigious 'A'-rating of the National Research Foundation, which ranked him as one of South Africa’s leading scientists.  He is known for his interdisciplinary work, and has an international profile in research leadership.  He has extensive experience in research, teaching and university administration, and has served in review panels or in an advisory capacity to a number of universities internationally.

Chris Brink was born and grew up in Upington, in the Northern Cape area of South Africa. He is married to Tobea Brink, and they have three children: Carmen (23), Hestia (9) and Peter (7).