Interview with Professor Francis Campbell - Vice Chancellor UNDA

Francis Campbell has been the Vice Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia since just before the Covid pandemic struck down the world in early 2020.

He was born in Northern Ireland and, following secondary school, was educated at Queen’s University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Jagiellonian University Krakow and the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Campbell joined the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service in 1997.

From 1999-2003, he served on the staff of the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, first as a Policy Adviser in the No 10 Policy Unit, and then as a Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.

He also served on secondment with Amnesty International as the Senior Director of Policy.

He has worked at the United Nations Security Council in New York, the European Union, and at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London and on diplomatic postings overseas.

From 2005-2011, he served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Holy See at he Vatican.

From 2011-13, he served as Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan.

From 2013-2014 he was the Head of the Policy Unit in the FCO and Director of Innovation at UK Trade and Investment.

From 2014-2020, Professor Campbell served as Vice Chancellor of St Mary’s University in London and also Professor of International Relations, while on special leave from the Foreign Office.

In February 2020, Professor Campbell became the fourth Vice Chancellor of The University of Notre Dame Australia. He also holds the position of Professor, International Relations.

He has been a Member of the Advisory Panel of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, London.

He also served on a number of governing bodies including St Mary’s University, St Joseph’s Hospice (London), St Elizabeth’s School (London) and Carlow College (Ireland). He continues to serve as a Trustee of Forward Thinking (London).

More recently, Professor Campbell was appointed a Governor of the Forrest Research Foundation, member of the Divine Word University Council, member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Board of Directors and is a founding member of the International Council on Human Trafficking at St Thomas University, Miami, School of Law.
Academic

Professor Campbell has Honorary Doctorates from Fordham University (New York), Saint Francis University (Pennsylvania), Queen’s University (Belfast), Steubenville University (Ohio), Misercordia University (Pennsylvania), the Pakistan Institute of Business and Technology (Karachi), and the President’s Medal from the Catholic University of America. He is also an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge University.

Professor Francis Campbell kindly agreed to speak with our editor, Michael Barker, about growing up in Northern Ireland, finding his way into the diplomatic service in Britain, working for Tony Blair, his job as Ambassador to the Holy See, and his new role as VC of Notre Dame in Australia, with campuses in Fremantle, Sydney and Broome.

Our podcast with Professor Campbell is a little longer than usual, but you won’t want to miss a word!

While you’re here –