Richard Higgott

Professor Richard Higgott was born in 1949 in Nottingham, UK. He is based in the Brussels School of Governance, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel where he is Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy. From 2020 he has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Siena in Italy.

He is an elected Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.[1]

Professor Higgott is a former Fulbright Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. He has been National Director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and Vice President of the USA International Studies Association.[1] He was also, for 1989–90, the president of the Australasian Political Studies Association.[2]

Other academic appointments include the University of Manchester (professor of Government); the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University (Professor in International Relations and Public Policy and Director of Studies for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) as well as at the University of Western of Australia. Sub-professorial career positions include those at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, the University of Tasmania and the University of Western Australia.[3]

He has edited three peer reviewed journals: The Australian Journal of International Affairs, Global Governance, and, for over 20 years, The Pacific Review. He is the author and/or editor and co-editor of some 20 volumes including Political Development Theory; Why We Cannot Govern the Global Economy; Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in the World Order; Towards a Global Polity; the 2-volume Handbook of Globalisation and 4 volume International Relations of the Asia Pacific.

In June 2011, Higgott took up the position of Vice-Chancellor, the chief officer, of Murdoch University in Western Australia.[4] He was appointed with a mandate to reform the institution, raise standards, improve the university research reputation and international standing.[5] During his time in office there was a significant improvement in Murdoch University's rankings; notably it rose in the ‘Worlds Top 100 universities under 50’ debuting high at 57th in 2013.[6]

During the reform process to either promote or attract world class researchers to improve international rank of the University, he was accused in anonymous letters that he had appointed a professor to a senior university position who was a former colleague of his. He resigned in October 2014 during the preparation of a Corruption and Crime Commission Report on the university. On 1 July 2016, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News (ABC News) reported that a WA Government report formed an opinion of misconduct. Whilst the CCC Report acknowledged that Professor Higgott had informed both the university selection committee and the deputy Chancellor of his prior professional relationship in a cross national research project and as co-authors of an academic publication, the perception was that Professor Higgott sought to have this person appointed to a senior university post [7] The candidate was deemed by the university selection committee to be the best candidate for the position.[8] The WA Corruption and Crime Commission noted that Higgott had recruited another former colleague, Mr Jon Baldwin previously Registrar of Warwick University. Additionally, the Report also found that Higgott had breached Murdoch University's code of conduct by using a university laptop to access adult material online.[9] The investigation resulted in neither sanction nor legal proceedings as detailed in the full Commission report Full Corruption Commission report on the matter.

However, the CCC investigation highlighted that problems lay with other actors in the University, such as failed oversight, including specifically "a Senate (that) fails to effectively articulate the parameters within which a Vice-Chancellor should act". The national business media suggested that the newly appointed Chancellor, David Flanagan (a miner), was "more local and closer to the parochial sentiments of Perth" and ill-suited to the pursuit of international talent and high educational standards.[10] An opinion article in The Australian depicted Professor Higgott as 'A Colleague who Cared' and portrayed the investigation as a consequence of "bossy neoliberal governments" where "scholarly freedom is jeopardised".[11]