Ruth Fincher is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne. She is a Board member of the International Social Science Council and a past Vice President of the International Geographical Union.
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An urban geographer with research and teaching interests in the urban outcomes of immigration and multiculturalism, diversity and difference in cities, gender issues, inequality and locational disadvantage, Professor Fincher is widely published internationally and has supervised many PhD students. Her writings include the books Planning and Diversity in the City: Redistribution, Recognition and Encounter, co-authored with Kurt Iveson (Palgrave Macmillan, London. 2008). Creating Unequal Futures Rethinking Inequality, Poverty and Disadvantage (Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2001) co-edited with Peter Saunders, Australian Poverty: Then and Now (Melbourne University Press, 1998) co-edited with John Nieuwenhuysen, and Cities of Difference (Guilford Press, New York, 1998) co-edited with Jane Jacobs. International journals in which she has published recently include Social and Cultural Geography, Geoforum, Urban Studies and Geographical Research.
Professor Fincher was President of the University of Melbourne's Academic Board in 2013 and 2014 and Pro Vice Chancellor from 2011 to 2014. She held the University's Chair in Geography from 2007 to 2015. In 2008 she led the establishment of the first of the University of Melbourne’s interdisciplinary, research institutes, the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) . Prior to that, Ruth Fincher was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning (2003-2006) and Professor of Urban Planning (1997-2006), also at the University of Melbourne. She was Director of the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne in the mid 1990s, and held positions as Assistant Professor of Geography at McGill University (Canada), and McMaster University (Canada) in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, she worked as a Research Manager in the Federal Government’s Bureau of Immigration Research.
She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Australian Geographers, and in January 2014 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Find out more about Ruth Fincher's experience
Ruth Fincher's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Local values and fairness in climate change adaptation: Insights from marginal rural Australian communities
Read moreRuth Fincher's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 7 most recent projects by Ruth Fincher.
Project Types
4
Research Grant
3
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 58 most recent scholarly works by Ruth Fincher.
Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Member of the Order of Australia
FASSA - Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Credentials
Positions
Honorary
Geography
Honorary
Geography
Member, College Of Experts, Australian Research Council, Sbe Panel (Social, Behavioural And Economic Sciences)
College of Experts, Australian Research Council
Member Of The Committee Of Panel A (Anthropology, Demography, Geography, Linguistics And Sociology Disciplines) Representing Geography
Academy of the Social Sciences
President, Vice-President, Editorial Board
Institute of Australian Geographers
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
Clark University
Master of Arts
McMaster University
Bachelor of Arts
University of Melbourne