Congratulations to Kelvin Liu, who commenced as the new Vice-President (Operations) at Monash Suzhou. With his extensive background in Australian higher education, branch campus operations, and expertise in the Chinese market, Kelvin is uniquely positioned to drive Monash Suzhou’s operational strategy and growth in the coming years.
Kelvin joins Monash after more than 17 years of service at James Cook University (JCU) in Singapore, where he most recently held the role of Chief Operating Officer for seven years until his departure in June 2025. In this capacity, Kelvin worked closely with senior leadership at the Singapore campus to develop and implement strategic plans aimed at achieving growth, operational efficiency, and quality targets set by the Board and the University. He also provided strong leadership and management to ensure that JCU Singapore maintained the necessary operational controls, administrative procedures, and reporting systems for sustainable growth and efficiency.
As Chief Operating Officer, Kelvin led the Estate Management department in securing a new campus lease through a competitive tender process, overseeing its renovation in under four months. From 2017 to 2023, Kelvin managed JCU Singapore’s China student recruitment portfolio. During this period, JCU Singapore became the first international institution recognised by the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) under China’s Ministry of Education. He also established the University’s first representative office in Beijing and developed numerous student recruitment agreements with Chinese government agencies and university partners.
Kelvin has been a strong advocate for sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in operations and institutional identity. Additionally, he has led efforts to enhance the University’s global reputation, particularly in improving rankings by QS and Times Higher Education. Under his leadership, JCU Singapore was shortlisted in multiple categories at the Times Higher Education Asia Awards in both 2024 and 2025.
An accomplished senior executive with over 20 years’ experience in the international tertiary education sector, Kelvin holds an Master of Business Administration from James Cook University. He is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Member of the Singapore Institute of Directors, and an Associate Member of CPA Australia.
The University engaged global search firm De Sailly Search to handle the search and recruitment process.
About the role
The Vice-President (Operations) provides strategic leadership of the administrative, resource and business planning activities and the overall compliance and governance of Monash Suzhou’s operation. This critical position works with the Pro Vice-Chancellor and President (Suzhou) (or PVC), ensuring operations are effective in the Chinese context, and in relationship with Monash’s campuses world-wide. The Vice-President supports the PVC on the delivery of Monash Suzhou’s strategy and operations, and manages a high-performing and dynamic team driving the communications, HR, finance, health and safety, and other operational and administration functions in line with the University’s policies and compliance framework. 
This position has direct supervision to the administrative units in Monash Suzhou, and indirect supervision of other education, research and enterprise units in Monash Suzhou.
The VP develops extensive external networks and relationships to strengthen Monash Suzhou’ profile in the wider community and active engagement with industry. As the Chief Officer for Monash in Suzhou, the VP is accountable for operations management and commercial, financial, governance, policy and resourcing advice, in accordance with legislative and University requirements. The VP reports on financial, risk, quality and compliance measures to ensure sound decisions for strategic and operational matters, including business planning and local and international engagement.
About Monash University Suzhou
Monash University has a clear purpose to deliver ground-breaking intensive research; a world-class education; a global ecosystem of enterprise – and activates these to address some of the challenges of the age, Climate Change, Thriving Communities and Geopolitical Security.
Monash is honoured to be the first Australian university to receive a licence to operate in China via its partnership with the Southeast University (SEU), one of China’s key national universities. To facilitate the collaboration, Monash University, Suzhou (Monash Suzhou) was established in 2018 at the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), which is one of the largest innovation precincts in China and recognised as one of the world’s most dynamic places for converting clever research into valuable industrial processes and products. It is a hub for more than 100 Fortune 500 companies, 480 R&D organisations, as well as 10 national and 28 international higher education institutions.
Today, Monash Suzhou comprises three distinct elements:
- The Joint Research Institute (JRI) and the Joint Graduate School (JGS), in partnership with SEU, produces postgraduates and researchers with ideas to change people’s lives in the region and the world for the better;
- The Monash Suzhou Science and Technology Research Institute (MSRI), a not-for-profit research institute, provides a wide range of R&D support to Monash in China in priority research areas including:
○ Advanced computation in science and engineering;
○ Advanced materials and manufacturing;
○ Energy and environment;
○ Future cities; and
○ Life sciences
MSRI aims to attract outstanding researchers and high calibre research students. Research in the long term will not be limited only to the above themes; based on the research strengths of SEU and Monash, research in other areas will also be developed and promoted in time. It is the intention to build up a critical mass of researchers at the MSRI and the JRI and strengthen relationships in R&D with local and international industries and other institutions in China.
The Monash (Suzhou) Engineering Technology Company Ltd (METCo), provides operational/professional support for Monash Suzhou activities.
