Professor Donna Pendergast is Director, Engagement in the Arts, Education and Law Group and former Dean and Head of the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Australia (2009-2023). She commenced her career as a secondary school teacher. Her expertise includes student engagement and teacher professional learning. Donna works at state and national levels in shaping education policy including as: a member of the Board of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) (2018-); Chair of the Teacher Education Expert Standing Committee (TEESC) of AITSL (2019-); and in the former roles as Chair of the Queensland Educational Leadership Institute (QELi) (2018-2022); Chair of the Queensland Council of Deans of Education (QCDE)(2016-2022) and Vice President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE (2021-2022). Donna is also a member of the National Council for Be You, the school based well-being arm of Beyond Blue (2021-). Donna has been acknowledged for her leadership impact and is the recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Research Supervision Award for Excellence (2016) and in 2018 was awarded the Australian Council for Educational Leadership Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education. In 2022 Donna received the Australian Council of Deans of Education Award for Outstanding Service to Education and the Council.
Professor Donna Pendergast
