Professor Renée Leon is the Vice-Chancellor and President of Charles Sturt University. Prior to her appointment as Vice-Chancellor in 2021, she had a distinguished career in both
Commonwealth and State public administration.
Professor Leon has been the Secretary of two Commonwealth Departments – the Department of Human Services and the Department of Employment – and the CEO of the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety. She was appointed National President of the Institute of Public Administration Australia in 2022. In 2013, she was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding service to public administration and law in leadership roles in the Australian Capital Territory and the Commonwealth.
Professor Leon holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University and a Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge, which she attended as the Menzies Foundation Law Scholar in 1995.
Professor Leon is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and a member of Chief Executive Women Australia.