Julie Cogin

Professor Cogin has been described as a collaborative and authentic leader that builds trust and high-performing teams.

She is strategic, commercially and financially astute with an inspirational leadership style that motivates people.

Professor Julie Cogin is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Business and Law) and Vice-President at RMIT University. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of an ASX200 listed company, Chairperson on the board of RMIT Training Pty Ltd and is a Non-Executive Director on the board of the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre.

Prior to joining RMIT University, Professor Cogin held a number of senior academic leadership positions over the last two decades, including Dean and Head of UQ Business School at the University of Queensland where she was the first female Business School Dean at a Go8 university and Director of the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales.

Professor Cogin is a recognised thought leader in high-performing workplaces and corporate culture; having authored books and academic papers, including those in world-leading journals. She has also secured substantial competitive grant funding from the Australian Government and industry, and has engaged as an expert witness in several tribunals and courts of Australia.

Professor Cogin has received education awards at University, National and International levels. 

Professor Cogin joined academia after a successful corporate career at Qantas Airways. She has more than 25 years of experience in delivering education or consulting engagements for many leading companies throughout Australia, Asia and in the USA including Australia’s top four banks and Hong Leong Bank in Asia, several large insurance companies, Qantas, GE, News Corp, Boral, Deutsche Post DHL, PWC, KPMG and Optus.

In addition to her university responsibilities, Professor Cogin sits on the board of an ASX200 company. Her corporate experience, academic achievements, and deep respect for the ethos of a university (academic freedom, intellectual debate, exchange of ideas, honesty and fairness) have assisted her to successfully assume senior executive roles in the Higher Education sector.

Professor Cogin’s primary research interest is strategy implementation. This includes understanding how components of HRM strategy can be configured to realise superior organisational outcomes (in both private and government organisations). She has an associated interest in HRM research methods, including data analytic techniques, evaluation of HRM research design and methodological challenges of the field.

Professor Cogin is also involved in cross-discipline research on high-performance workplaces.