Rate My Professor Vijay Varadharajan

Professor Vijay Varadharajan is an Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle since December 2025. He previously held the Global Innovation Chair Professor position in Cyber Security from March 2017 to December 2025 at the ARC Laureate Fellowship level, served as Chief Cyber Strategist from March 2022, and heads the Advanced Cyber Security Engineering Research Centre. He is also an Affiliate Professor at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, focusing on trustworthy medical technologies and secure online healthcare services. Prior to Newcastle, Varadharajan was the Microsoft Chair Professor in Innovation at Macquarie University from 2001 to 2017 at the ARC Federation Fellowship level, where he founded the Optus MQ Cyber Security Hub and established the Advanced Cyber Security Engineering Research Centre with Microsoft linkages. Earlier appointments include Dean of the School of Computing and IT and Mathematics and Foundation Computing Chair Professor at the University of Western Sydney from 1996 to 2000, Head of Worldwide Security Research at HP Labs in Bristol, UK from 1988 to 1995—leading to six security technologies transferred into HP products generating over $4 billion USD—and Research Manager at British Telecom Research Labs from 1987 to 1988. He began his academic career as Research Fellow and Lecturer in Computer Science at Plymouth and Reading Universities from 1985 to 1986. Varadharajan holds a PhD in Computer and Communication Security from Plymouth and Exeter Universities in 1984, sponsored by BT Research Labs, and a First Class Honours Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering from Sussex University in 1981, for which he received the 1981 IEE Prize and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals Award.