Prof Lee Stewart ~ Dean, College of Healthcare Sciences

 As a health professional for four decades, my passion long has been the contribution that health professionals make to the health and wellbeing of their communities.  Working in public hospitals, private hospitals and community health services in Queensland and New South Wales, as a clinical nurse, midwife, educator, and leader/manager, I’ve had the opportunity to experience the expanding role that health professionals have had and will continue to have in supporting people to achieve their health outcomes.  At James Cook University over the past fourteen years, I’ve had the chance to work with terrific colleagues as we prepare the health professionals of the future, engage in research that makes a difference to communities, and negotiate best practice with our clinical partners.  My major research interest is about the link between effective leadership/management, the conditions in which health professionals undertake their work, and client safety.  I had the opportunity to advise the Fiji Ministry of Health for four years as they introduced a clinical governance/risk management system across Fiji’s Health System and to subsequently undertake research into the effectiveness of that system, particularly concerning health leadership and client safety.  As Dean of the College of Healthcare Sciences I have the privilege of leading an amazing team of people focused upon making a significant contribution to life in the tropics worldwide.  Studying for most of my working life, I hold a Diploma in Teaching Nursing, a Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing), a Postgraduate Certificate of Education, a Masters of Dispute Resolution, and a PhD and am also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.