Research and career
In 2006 Freshwater joined the University of Leeds. [6] Her research concentrated on forensic psychology,and studied the impact of marginalised groups with severe mental health issues. [7]
Freshwater was appointed the Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC) at the University of Leeds in 2011. [6] She led the School of Medicine application for an Athena SWAN award and served a member of the assessment panel for the Research Excellence Framework (REF). [5] During this time,she served on the Council of Deans for Nursing and Midwifery and was a trustee of the Florence Nightingale Foundation. [8]
In 2014 Freshwater moved to Australia. [3] Freshwater joined the University of Western Australia as Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor in 2016. [9] In 2017 she was made the Vice Chancellor,and led the first Inclusion and Division strategy. [10] She was the first woman to be made Chair of the Group of Eight in 2018. [3] She also led the Matariki network of universities. At the University of Western Australia Freshwater established the Public Policy Institute,which translates research into real-world solutions for the Indo-Pacific region. [11]
In 2019 Freshwater became the first woman to be appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland whilst remaining a professor of mental health at the University of Leeds. [12] During her appointment at the University of Auckland,there has been substantial increase of the QS ranking in the overall university category and in the new sustainability category. [13] [14] [15] [16] Further,in 2024,the University of Auckland reached the highest ranking since 2013 in the QS ranking being the 65th in the world. [17] She has been invited as a keynote speaker in several international ranking event hosted by the Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). [18] [19] [20]
In June 2025,Dawn Freshwater announced her intention to step down as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland after nearly six years in the role. She will remain in the position until early 2026 to allow a smooth transition and time for the University to appoint a successor. [21] The University Council and Chancellor Cecilia Tarrant confirmed their full support for Freshwater,emphasising her strong leadership during a challenging period and rejecting speculation that she was asked to resign. [22]
Publications
Freshwater has authored and co-authored over 100 peer reviewed papers [23] and she is among the top 2% cited scientists according to the 2023 Stanford/Elsevier ranking. [24] Some of her selected works are:
- Rolfe,G.,Freshwater,D.,&Jasper,M. (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions:a user's guide. Palgrave. ISBN 0333777956. [25]
- Freshwater,D. (2002). Therapeutic Nursing. SAGE Publishing. ISBN 0761970649. [26]
- Freshwater,D. (2002). Emotions and Needs (Core Concepts in Therapy). Open University Press. ISBN 0335208010. [27]
- Freshwater,D. (2004). Blackwell's Nursing Dictionary. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1405105348. [28]
- Freshwater,D. (2005). Counselling Skills for Nurses,Midwives and Health Visitors. Open University Press. ISBN 0335207812. [29]
- Freshwater,D. (2008). International Textbook of Reflective Practice in Nursing. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405160513. [30]
- Jacobs,M.,&Freshwater,D. (2023). The Presenting Past (5th ed.). McGraw Hill Education,Oxford. ISBN 9780335251841. [31]
- Rolfe,G.,Freshwater,D.,&Jasper,M. (2025). Critical Reflection for Health Professionals (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781032749631. [32]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
