Rate My Professor Steven Vaughan

Professor Steven Vaughan is the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Monash University. He joined the university on 2 January 2025. Professor Vaughan is an internationally renowned legal educator, scholar and author with 20 years’ experience spanning industry, higher education and several non-executive director roles. A values-driven leader, he is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and has spent much of his career developing teaching approaches that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn.

Professor Vaughan previously served as Professor of Law and Professional Ethics at University College London, where he held leadership positions including Vice Dean (Strategy), Deputy Dean/Head of Department and Chair of the Faculty Education Team. He has held teaching and academic leadership positions at Cardiff University, the University of Bristol and the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on environmental law, lawyers’ ethics, legal education including clinical legal education, diversity and corporate governance. He has authored and edited two monographs, two edited collections, two journal special issues and more than 30 chapters, journal papers and reports since 2007. His work has been cited by legal services regulators in the UK and Canada. Professor Vaughan is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2006 and was the final Chair of the Joint Academic Stage Board. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oxford (2002), a Master of Sciences (2008) and a PhD (2014) from Cardiff University. He began his career as a corporate finance solicitor specialising in environmental law at Freshfields and Latham & Watkins. He has received multiple awards and honours for teaching and research and has held non-executive appointments in healthcare, press and legal services regulation. Professor Vaughan is regularly invited to speak at academic and industry events internationally.