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When Brian Schmidt left the Australian National University in 2023, academics were fervently hoping the new vice chancellor would be an experienced administrator with a rich history of running a university.
“Sort of a grown-up,” said one former academic, speaking anonymously because he remains in the sector, “is who we were hoping for.”
They got Genevieve Bell, an experienced academic who had never run a university before.
A magnet for controversy during her ill-fated time as vice chancellor that ended in September last year, Bell made headlines as the ANU’s financial position became less and less tenable. She is once more under fire after claims she was suspended pending the investigation of allegations of serious misconduct for allegedly making a friend with no degree a professor.
Andrew Meares, a former Herald photographer, joined the ANU in 2019 after a stint as Bill Shorten’s official photographer. According to the Saturday Paper, he applied for a full professorship in 2023. This was unsuccessful, but in 2024 he found himself in the job despite the fact he has no university qualifications.
Sources close to the ANU say that Bell was banned from the university’s grounds during her alleged suspension. While the investigation into Meares’ promotion continues, Bell has returned to campus.
According to the university, Bell is on 12 months’ study leave, part of a settlement package when she left the VC role after two years.
ANU’s council, including then-chancellor Julie Bishop, appointed Bell to oversee the university as its financial position became apparent, much to the anger of staff and students.
Schmidt’s decision to make the ANU a more personable campus led the university down the path of fewer students at a time almost all other universities were relentlessly pursuing international students. It backfired – when the pandemic hit, the university lacked the cash reserves of other institutions, leading to ham-fisted attempts to claw back $250 million in savings.
The animosity in the ANU community grew: Bell faced calls to resign and was subject to a vote of no confidence over her handling of the financial situation facing the university. She ultimately left the VC role in September, although she remained at the ANU, as does Meares.
“Professor Andrew Meares is lead of the Cybernetic Futures group … Andrew leads cybernetic research and education experiences in cybernetic futures, the Cybernetic Imagination residency program, and is a co-investigator of an ongoing research project on Australia’s first digital system, the Overland Telegraph Line,” says his biography on the ANU website.
Sources at the ANU say Meares would have been suitable as a “professor in practice” – a role introduced by Schmidt for people with industry experience that could benefit the university and its students but who lacked formal qualifications.
“That would’ve made sense. It would also make sense if Bell had been involved, because the professor in practice jobs were run centrally through the VC’s office, unlike the promotion of ordinary academics,” said another ex-ANU staffer.
Meares’ ANU research page shows work on one paper from 2025 entitled “National Civil Preparedness in Australia and Civil-Military Coordination”. Bell is a co-author. The university said in a statement that Bell has not been suspended but is on study leave and that it would not comment “on speculative claims that may compromise individual privacy and reputation”.
It said that Meares “is a very well-regarded member of the School of Cybernetics and the College of Systems and Society.”
Meares and Bell were contacted for comment.
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