Rate My Professor S. Bruce Dowton

Professor S. Bruce Dowton serves as the fifth Vice-Chancellor and President of Macquarie University, a role he has held since September 2012. A paediatrician, clinical geneticist, molecular biologist, researcher, and academic leader, he was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with Honours in 1980 from the University of Sydney. He completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Medical Centre in Boston, holding clinical and research fellowships in paediatrics and cell biology. He earned a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Sydney for his laboratory research on the regulation of gene expression for blood proteins. From 1985 to 1998, Dowton held positions at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, including Director of the Division of Medical Genetics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Associate Dean for Medical Education in 1993, and Associate Vice-Chancellor in 1996, where he led revitalization of clinical, research, and educational programs and developed initiatives in medical student, graduate, and continuing medical education.

In 1998, he was appointed Dean of the School of Medicine and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of New South Wales, implementing innovative curricula with integrated phases and portfolio-based assessment, planning new facilities, doubling research income, strengthening graduate education, and launching the Rural Clinical Schools Initiative to address physician shortages in regional, rural, and remote Australia. He chaired the Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools from 2002 to 2004 and was appointed Professor Emeritus in 2005. From 2007 to 2012, he served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Harvard Medical International and Partners Harvard Medical International, guiding projects on chronic disease strategies, medical school development in the Middle East and Central Asia, and health system reviews. At Macquarie University, he developed strategic frameworks improving research performance, integrating traditional and technological teaching, enhancing industry partnerships, philanthropic giving, and campus infrastructure. His publications include “Assessing guideline adherence in the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus in Australian children: a population-based sample survey” (2020), “Bending the quality curve” (2020), and “Assessing the quality of care for paediatric depression and anxiety in Australia” (2019). Dowton holds qualifications MBBS MD FACMG FRACP FAICD FRSN, serves as Chairman of Open Universities Australia, trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and member of Asia Society Australia, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, and others.