Professor Pip Nicholson



Pip Nicholson

Dean, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne

Pip Nicholson is Dean of Melbourne Law School.

Pip is a University of Melbourne (UoM) graduate with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and a PhD from Melbourne Law School (MLS). Pip also holds a Masters in Public Policy from the ANU.

Pip’s research focusses on the history and development of Vietnamese legal institutions, particularly Vietnamese courts, constitutions and, more recently, the legal profession. Her ARC-supported projects enabled research on the impacts of comparative legal development assistance in Vietnam and Cambodia, and drugs law and the death penalty in Southeast Asia. Working comparatively and with scholars across the globe, Pip has consistently interrogated questions about how scholars investigate foreign legal systems.

Previously admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Victorian Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia, Pip’s professional experience spans commercial lawyering, legal aid, international consultancy (with a particular focus on development aid in Asia), and teaching and research at Melbourne Law School.

Having previously held senior roles on UoM’s Academic Board and at MLS (Associate Dean JD and International), Pip is committed to realising a globally informed and contemporary curriculum and research agenda that equips tomorrow’s graduates to ethically analyse and contribute to the resolution of the challenges of our times, including: Indigenous recognition; climate change; and dynamics of technological change infusing the work of graduates, whether working as practitioners, regulators or reformers.