Judith Kinnear

Professor Judith Kinnear is a distinguished Australian academic and geneticist, celebrated for being the first woman to lead a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her career spans decades of pioneering work in genetics education, academic leadership, and international collaboration.

Born in 1939, Judith Kinnear was educated at Kilbreda College in Mentone, Victoria. She the studied at the University of Melbourne, earning a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and, in 1973, a PhD in Genetics. Her doctoral thesis is titled "The origin and inter-relationships of larval and imaginal proteins in Calliphora: a contribution to the study of gene action in insect metamorphosis".

Kinnear later obtained a Bachelor of Education from La Trobe University and a Graduate Diploma in Computer Simulation from Swinburne University of Technology. In 2016, she added a Graduate Diploma in Forensic Studies from the University of Canberra to her academic portfolio.

In the 1970s, while serving as a senior lecturer in biology at Melbourne State College, Kinnear began integrating computer technology into genetics education. She developed simulation software such as CATLAB, BIRDBREED, and Heredity Dog, which allowed students to explore genetic principles through interactive modelling. With her colleague Professor Marjory Martin, she co-authored the award-winning Nature of Biology textbook series, now widely used in Australian secondary schools.

Kinnear held senior roles including Director of Studies in the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University, Foundation Dean and later Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) at the University of Sydney.

In 2003, Judith Kinnear was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Massey University, becoming the first woman to lead a university in New Zealand. Her tenure was marked by both progress and challenges. She led the university until her retirement in March 2008, when she returned to Australia.

Kinnear’s contributions to science and education have been widely recognised. In 2015, she received an Honorary Doctorate from Swinburne University of Technology. She is a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London and has collaborated internationally, including with the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in the United States. She is a founding member of the Leaders-Women International Network (L-WIN) and a foreign member of the Council of the Women Leadership Academy in Beijing. In 2017, she was honoured by the Royal Society Te Apārangi as one of “150 women in 150 words,” celebrating her impact on knowledge in New Zealand.

Professor Kinnear also sponsors the Judith Kinnear Student Travel Scholarship at Swinburne University, supporting postgraduate students in science and engineering to engage in international research and collaboration.

"The good stewarts". Massey. Issue 31. April 2014. Page 36. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

"Judith Kinnear". 150 Women in 150 Words. Royal Society Te Apārangi, 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

"Professor Judith Kinnear. 2017 Inductee". Kilbreda College, 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

"Women of distinction honoured". The Bayside News. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

John Gerritsen, "New Zealand: First woman vice-chancellor steps down". University World News. 2 March 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

"Judith Kinnear Student Travel Scholarship 2025". Scholarships. Swinburne University of Technology. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

"Trailblazing women at Massey". Exhibitions. Tāmiro. Retrieved 9 July 2025.