Dawn Freshwater

Dawn Freshwater
FRCN
6th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 2020
ChancellorCecilia Tarrant
Preceded byStuart McCutcheon
18th Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Western Australia
In office
16 January 2017 – 2020
ChancellorMichael Chaney
Robert French
Preceded byPaul Johnson
Succeeded byAmit Chakma
Personal details
BornAugust 1962 (age 63)
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Websitewww.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/the-university/message-from-the-vice-chancellor.html
Scientific career
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham (BA, PhD)
FieldsMental health
Nurse education
InstitutionsUniversity of Auckland
University of Leeds
University of Western Australia
ThesisTransformatory Learning in Nurse Education (1998)
Doctoral advisorProfessor Eric Hall and Professor Carol Hall University of Nottingham

Dawn Freshwater FRCN (born August 1962) is a British academic, university professor, mental health researcher, and the current vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland.[1]

Early life and education

Freshwater was born in a mining family in Nottingham in August 1962, with two younger brothers.[2] She left school at the age of 15 because her parents became unwell. Freshwater trained as a nurse and was the first member of her family to attend university.[3] Her doctoral research investigated the impact of transformative learning on nursing students for which she was awarded a PhD by the University of Nottingham in 1998.[4][5]

Research and career

In 2006 Freshwater joined the University of Leeds.[6] Her research concentrated on forensic psychology, and studied the impact of marginalised groups with severe mental health issues.[7]

Freshwater was appointed the pro-vice-chancellor (PVC) at the University of Leeds in 2011.[6] She led the School of Medicine application for an Athena SWAN award and served as a member of the assessment panel for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).[5] During this time, she served on the Council of Deans for Nursing and Midwifery and was a trustee of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.[8]

In 2014 Freshwater moved to Australia.[3] She joined the University of Western Australia as senior deputy vice chancellor in 2016.[9] In 2017 she was made the vice chancellor, and led the first Inclusion and Division strategy.[10] She was the first woman to be made chair of the Group of Eight in 2018.[3] She also led the Matariki network of universities. At the University of Western Australia, Freshwater established the Public Policy Institute, which translates research into real-world solutions for the Indo-Pacific region.[11]

In 2019 Freshwater became the first woman to be appointed vice chancellor of the University of Auckland, whilst remaining a professor of mental health at the University of Leeds.[12] During her appointment at the University of Auckland, there has been substantial increase of the QS ranking in the overall university category and in the new sustainability category.[13][14][15][16] Further, in 2024, the University of Auckland reached the highest ranking since 2013 in the QS ranking being the 65th in the world.[17] She has been invited as a keynote speaker in several international ranking event hosted by the Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).[18][19][20]

In June 2025, Freshwater announced her intention to step down as vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland after nearly six years in the role. She will remain in the position until early 2026 to allow a smooth transition and time for the university to appoint a successor.[21] The University Council and Chancellor Cecilia Tarrant confirmed their full support for Freshwater, rejecting speculation that she was asked to resign.[22] During her tenure, she presided over controversial faculty consolidations and course cuts.[23][24]

Publications

Freshwater has authored and co-authored over 100 peer reviewed papers.[25] She is among the top 2% cited scientists, according to the 2023 Stanford/Elsevier ranking.[26] Some of her works are:

  • Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., & Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions: a user's guide. Palgrave. ISBN 0333777956.[27]
  • Freshwater, D. (2002). Therapeutic Nursing. SAGE Publishing. ISBN 0761970649.[28]
  • Freshwater, D. (2002). Emotions and Needs (Core Concepts in Therapy). Open University Press. ISBN 0335208010.[29]
  • Freshwater, D. (2004). Blackwell's Nursing Dictionary. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1405105348.[30]
  • Freshwater, D. (2005). Counselling Skills for Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors. Open University Press. ISBN 0335207812.[31]
  • Freshwater, D. (2008). International Textbook of Reflective Practice in Nursing. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405160513.[32]
  • Jacobs, M., & Freshwater, D. (2023). The Presenting Past (5th ed.). McGraw Hill Education, Oxford. ISBN 9780335251841.[33]
  • Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., & Jasper, M. (2025). Critical Reflection for Health Professionals (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781032749631.[34]

Awards and honours

In 2001 Freshwater was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN).[5]

Personal life

Freshwater is a marathon runner and has completed the London Marathon seven times.[11][35]

References

  1. ^ "Our Vice-Chancellor - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Dawn FRESHWATER personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Australia's key university body appoints first female Chair: Dawn Freshwater". womensagenda.com.au. Women's Agenda. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  4. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (1998). Transformatory learning in nurse education. nottingham.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Nottingham. OCLC 556607870. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.299560.
  5. ^ a b c "UWA announces new Vice-Chancellor". news.uwa.edu.au. University Of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  6. ^ a b Garner, Louise (18 August 2017). "Pro-Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater". leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Prof Dawn Freshwater". Forrest Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  8. ^ Anyangwe, Eliza (21 March 2012). "Live chat: what sort of leaders does higher education need?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Dawn Freshwater — the UWA Profiles and Research Repository". research-repository.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  10. ^ Debska, Anna (17 January 2017). "UWA announces new Vice-Chancellor". matarikinetwork.org. Matariki Network. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  11. ^ a b Collins, Simon (5 June 2019). "British mental health researcher Dawn Freshwater appointed as University of Auckland's first female vice-chancellor". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  12. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2022). "Commentary: Using mixed-methods in evidence-based nursing: A scoping review guided by a socio-ecological perspective". Journal of Research in Nursing. 27 (7): 653–654. doi:10.1177/17449871221114369. PMC 9669930. PMID 36405798.
  13. ^ Cultured Conversations with Dawn Freshwater, 11 January 2024, retrieved 19 January 2024
  14. ^ "University rankings: 'New Zealand continues to outperform relative to its size'". The New Zealand Herald. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  15. ^ "68th in the world, Auckland leads excellence across the university sector - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  16. ^ "University of Auckland No 1 in Oceania and fifth in world for sustainability - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  17. ^ "University of Auckland climbs in QS World University Rankings - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  18. ^ Dawn Freshwater at the THE Innovation & Impact Summit 2022, 27 April 2022, retrieved 12 February 2024
  19. ^ "THE Asia Universities Summit 2023". www.timeshighered-events.com. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  20. ^ "The University of Auckland on LinkedIn: Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater is at the QS India Summit 2024…". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  21. ^ "University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor to step down in 2026 - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  22. ^ "Statement from the Chancellor, Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  23. ^ Davison, Isaac. "Controversial University of Auckland law school merger canned". NZ Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  24. ^ Morton, Jamie. "Backdown after Auckland University course shake-up sparks academic revolt". NZ Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  25. ^ Dawn Freshwater publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  26. ^ Ioannidis, John P. A. (4 October 2023). "Bibliometrics". October 2023 data-update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators". Vol. 6. Elsevier Data Repository. doi:10.17632/btchxktzyw.6.
  27. ^ Rolfe, Gary (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions : a user's guide. Freshwater, Dawn; Jasper, Melanie. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave. ISBN 0333777956. OCLC 46984997.
  28. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2002). Therapeutic Nursing. SAGE Publishing. ISBN 0761970649.
  29. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2002). Emotions And Needs (Core Concepts in Therapy). Open University Press. ISBN 0335208010.
  30. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2004). Blackwell's Nursing Dictionary. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1405105348.
  31. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2005). Counselling Skills For Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors. Open University Press. ISBN 0335207812.
  32. ^ Freshwater, Dawn (2008). International Textbook of Reflective Practice in Nursing. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405160513.
  33. ^ Jacobs, Michael (2023). The Presenting Past. Freshwater, Dawn (5th ed.). Oxford: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 9780335251841.
  34. ^ Rolfe, Gary (2025). Critical Reflection for Health Professionals. Freshwater, Dawn; Jasper, Melanie (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781032749631.
  35. ^ "Interview with Dawn Freshwater". timeshighereducation.com. Times Higher Education. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
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