Professor Chris Brink is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne since 2007. He is the academic and executive head of the University.
Before taking up his position at Newcastle, Professor Brink was Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where he led a transformation agenda which attracted national and international attention. Before that, he served as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
After the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994 he was involved in the restructuring of University of Cape Town as Coordinator of Strategic Planning.