Joanna Watts has over 25 years of experience in the higher education sector both in the United Kingdom and Australia. She joined the Advancement team at the University of Melbourne in 2017 to head up the Operations team and provide leadership in the areas of organisational development, HR, financial management, OHS, policy and governance. Watts is the Deputy Chair of the Board of TEAR Australia, an international NGO and is a fiction writer in her spare time. She has a bachelor’s degree (honours) from the University of Birmingham in russian language and literature and a postgraduate certificate in higher education administration from the Open University in the United Kingdom.