Torrens University’s Linda Brown wins EY entrepreneur of the year

Linda Brown is boss of Australia’s fastest growing university, but she’s never been focused on traditional metrics like higher education institution rankings.

Ms Brown’s work as chief executive of Torrens University Australia has seen her crowned EY Entrepreneur of the Year. She won over a panel of judges including Lucy Turnbull, OzHarvest founder Ronni Khan, fast food mogul Jack Cowin and Greencross founder Glen Richards.

The panel chose her for the annual entrepreneur prize for her work in growing Torrens’ educational reach throughout the pandemic.

“We really focused on employability when employability wasn’t sexy for universities. We weren’t interested in university league tables – we were interested in what the client wanted,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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Torrens University is a for-profit operator which delivers courses in areas like healthcare, business and design. It has grown exponentially over the past decade: in 2013 it had 146 graduates, but this year has close to 21,000 enrolled students. Its focus is on industry partnerships and job pathways, a model which Lucy Turnbull said brings together the best parts of the traditional university degree and technical education.

Ms Turnbull told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Ms Brown was “a dynamo and a star” who is showing the potential of a new kind of educational institution that blends the best parts of the university and technical education models.

“I think she is clearly focused on the global side of growing the business … there is huge opportunity for growth. I think Linda is the kind of person who would not leave any opportunity unseized,” Ms Turnbull said.

Ms Brown said her win validates her belief in a university focused on entrepreneurship. “It’s really great to just know I wasn’t totally off my head when we built the strategy for the university and that industry and partners recognise the space that we moved into,” she said.