Get to know Professor Anita Stuhmcke, our new Dean in the Faculty of Law.
Professor Anita Stuhmcke, picture by Andy Roberts
UTS Law’s new Dean, Professor Anita Stuhmcke believes passionately in the power of the law to bring about social change and improve people’s lives.
“I am privileged and delighted to be the next Dean of UTS Faculty of Law. We are a Faculty that changes the world through our research and changes lives through the quality of our legal education and the diversity of our student cohort,” she says.
Professor Stuhmcke’s research interests follow a common thread of access to justice and the promotion of people’s abilities to understand and exercise their legal rights. Her work in these areas has led to important policy and law reform.
Despite her strong commitment, Anita admits that growing up in a seaside community north of Newcastle, there was no single defining moment that pushed her into studying law:
My process of informed decision-making was somewhat complicated by living outside a major city and not knowing anyone who had studied law or having anyone to ask what studying law meant.
It was also a time when school careers advisers were often limited in their suggested professions for young women.
With the idea that whatever she did, she wanted to ‘make a difference’, Anita thought briefly about journalism but decided on a law degree and enrolled at Macquarie University.
The move from a small town to a city university is often daunting for young people but that wasn’t the case for Anita – perhaps because she arrived at Macquarie via Germany – after a year as an exchange student in Hamburg:
After those 12 months, it was easier moving to Sydney. It was at least in the same country and much closer to home.
Anita thrived at university and graduated first in her year. She followed the traditional path of a clerkship at a big city law firm but within two years took the leap into academia and found the ‘right fit’ – firstly at Western Sydney University and then at UTS, where she joined the Faculty of Law as an Associate Lecturer in 1996.
Over her time with UTS, Professor Stuhmcke has held a variety of leadership and service positions at the University and Faculty level, including Student Ombud; Chair of the University Appeals Committee and Student Conduct Committee; and elected member of UTS Council.
She has also played an active role in the Faculty of Law’s response to the changing nature of the legal profession and the application of law to society and social need more generally. Throughout her time, Anita has been involved in introducing new subjects and programs, and developing innovative areas of research and engagement.
The commitment to excellence in teaching and learning is a constant. I have also been privileged to be a part of the Faculty's research trajectory. I have seen it grow in stature to become a recognised national leader in this field– excelling in high quality research, a commitment to social justice and excellence in end-user engagement and research impact.
A charismatic, highly respected and well-liked member of the UTS community, the Law Faculty’s future looks promising under Professor Stuhmcke’s leadership:
In the next five years I look forward to leading the Faculty to the next level of excellence and social justice, to contribute to the University’s strategic priorities and to enhance the role of UTS as a public university.
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