Andrew Parfitt

Andrew James Parfitt is an Australian academic who is the 5th vice-chancellor and president of the University of Technology Sydney. He was appointed to the role in November 2021. He was previously the deputy vice-chancellor (academic) of the University of Newcastle from 2012 to 2016, and provost of the University of Technology Sydney from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education Andrew James Parfitt graduated with a BE (Electrical and Electronic) and PhD (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) from the University of Adelaide, His position at Adelaide (to Senior Lecturer) was facilitated by Cole, and Parfitt never achieved the rank of Associate / Professor.

Career Parfitt was previously the CEO of CRC Satellite Systems and general manager of CSIRO space programs. He was the provost and senior vice-president of the University of Technology Sydney from 2017 to 2021. Parfitt's management performance, in particular his UTS restructure and staff reduction campaign, was criticised in a January 2026 article in the Australian Financial Review. Consulting firm Ernst Young has warned of risk management issues in the implementation of a large software project that he signed off on, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system costing $77 million.

Under Parfitt's management at the University of Technology Sydney, $1.5 million was spent on leadership coaching before cutting both jobs and courses. .

In late 2025, an overwhelming number of staff (95%) expressed no confidence in Parfitt's leadership in a survey conducted by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).

Other roles and activities Parfitt was the chair of the Universities Admissions Centre from 2013 to 2019.