The infinite vice-chancellor
Tyrone Carlin parlayed professional humiliation into a Lismore goldmine.
Just as in corporate Australia, there is a certain variety of leader in the education sector who flourishes despite exhibiting what should ordinarily be considered blindingly career-limiting qualities.
One such example is the boss of one of the nation's smallest and poorest universities, who landed the job without an advertised search and was then reappointed to an open-ended term.
Professor Tyrone Carlin's story begins long before 2018, when he arrived in the flood-prone town of Lismore, the home of Southern Cross University. He somehow got the job as a deputy vice-chancellor, fresh off a demotion from that same role at Sydney University and a public bollocking over his side hustle as chairman of CPA Australia.
Two years later, Carlin rose again, this time as SCU's new interim vice-chancellor after the resignation of his boss Adam Shoemaker. And five years later, another coup: he was reappointed, this time with no end date on his contract, while chancellor, Sandra McPhee, waxed lyrical about the "seemingly infinite energy he brings to the role".
