Professor Adam Shoemaker has extensive experience in the Australian University sector and is one of the nation’s leading researchers in Indigenous literature and culture.

He commenced as the Vice-Chancellor and President of Victoria University in December 2020 after four years as Vice-Chancellor of Southern Cross University.

Before these roles, Professor Shoemaker was a senior leader at a number of other Australian universities, including Academic Provost at Griffith University, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Monash University and Dean of Arts at the Australian National University.

He spent his formative years in a diverse range of fields, such as reviewer and columnist for The Australian, an ABC Canberra radio series contributor, and a member of the National Press Club. He has served as chair of the Brisbane Writers Festival in the mid-1990s and spent three years with the Delegation of the Commission of the European Committees. He was Deputy Director of the European Community pavilion at World Expo 88 in Brisbane.

Professor Shoemaker also had positions on the advisory board of Monash University Publishing and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), and Director of Open Universities Australia.

Canadian by birth, Professor Shoemaker holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Queen’s University and a PhD from the Australian National University.