UNSW conjures geneticist as new Dean of Science

Geneticist and microbiologist, Professor Merlin Crossley, has been appointed as the new Dean of Science at the University of New South Wales, taking over from Acting Dean, Professor Ian Dawes, next year.

Crossley is currently Professor of Molecular Genetics in the biochemistry department at the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney.

He has also held the post of Acting Dean of Science at the University of Sydney in 2004 and Director of Research in the University's College of Sciences and Technology. From 2006 to the end of 2008 he was Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research.

Crossley studied genetics and microbiology at the University of Melbourne before receiving a Rhodes Scholarship to undertake his doctorate at Oxford University. He has also received numerous awards, including the Australian Academy of Science's Gottschalk Medal, the Royal Society of NSW's Edgeworth David Medal, and the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's Roche Medal.

He takes up the position in January 2010.