Former Federal Court judge Catherine Branson has become chancellor of the University of Adelaide, replacing Kevin Scarce, who quit the position in sensational circumstances two months ago.

Ms Branson, who has been deputy chancellor since 2017, formally assumed the top job on 14 July. She had been de facto head of the governing body since Rear Admiral Scarce’s abrupt departure on 4 May.

He resigned a day before it was revealed that vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen had taken indefinite leave. Two days later, South Australia’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption announced that he was investigating “potential issues of serious or systemic misconduct and maladministration” at Adelaide, including allegations of improper conduct by Professor Rathjen and the university’s handling of those allegations.

Christine Locher, a University of Adelaide council member who chaired the chancellor appointment committee, said that Ms Branson had taken over “at a particularly challenging time for our state, our university and the higher education sector in general”.

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“But the council had no doubt that they were selecting someone of the highest calibre, proven throughout her outstanding legal and judicial career and in her service to our university,” Ms Locher said.

Ms Branson, an Adelaide law and arts graduate, went on to become Australia’s first female crown solicitor in Australia at the age of just 35. She was also the first female permanent head of a government department in South Australia.

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She served as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia for 14 years and received the nation’s highest civic honour in 2018, when she was named a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Ms Branson said she was honoured to oversee Adelaide’s governance and would be “helping ensure [that] the university continues to provide the education and research our state needs for its recovery and future”.

She told the Adelaide Advertiser that she would help steer the institution through troubled financial waters and be an advocate for respectful free speech.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com