'You'll never go to university': Deputy Vice-Chancellor proved doubters wrong
By Damon Chronshaw. As printed in the Newcastle Herald on 2 October 2025.
Professor Belinda Tynan, photographed by Jonathan Carroll
When Belinda Tynan was in high school, she was told she'd never make it to university.
"I'm a bit defiant. I thought, 'I'm going to university, you watch me'," she said.
She's now the University of Newcastle's Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).
Professor Tynan was the first in her family to go to university.
"I grew up in Wollongong and went to a rough school - Dapto High," she said.
"I finished year 11 and 12 at Figtree High School. I was a bit of a nerd at school."
"Dad worked at the steelworks and Mum at the University of Wollongong as an accountant."
The young Belinda's school grades were "pretty mixed, but I had some great teachers".
"A few said to me, if you don't work hard, you won't get anywhere'."
Not all the teachers were positive, though.
"I still remember my year 10 teacher saying I would never go to university. When I think about it now, I feel outraged someone said that to me."
Back then, Dapto "wasn't a place of aspiration".
Professor Tynan's rise to the senior deputy vice-chancellor's role follows a 30-year career at numerous universities.
In her new job, she looks after 38,000 students.
"A good proportion of our university students are entering adulthood," she said.
"I balance treating them as adults, noting that their judgement and self-control are still emerging."
Parents quite often don't understand that "we can't speak to them about their children [as they're legally adults]".
"Sometimes parents ring about their kids, but they're told 'I'm sorry I can't tell you that'. I often feel caught between a rock and a hard place."
"Young people don't always make the best decisions, but they have to learn from the things they do."
It's a tough time to be a student.
"The rising cost of living is a real concern," Professor Tynan said.
"I remember when I was a student, we'd all put $10 in the kitty and it'd feed you for the week.
"We're seeing more students working full-time and squashing study around it."
The academic pressures that students face can be intense.
They're advised to respect "the integrity of their degree", amid artificial intelligence issues "swirling around them".
"They're worried about what job they'll get and whether their degree will enable them to get the job they want."
Before her career at university, Professor Tynan was a music teacher.
"I always wanted to become a teacher," she said.
"I'd make up teaching activities and subject my poor siblings to them. When I think back, my two brothers were incredibly compliant," she quipped.
Her family is from Broken Hill.
"We'd do these long train trips in the old railway carriages from Sydney. I'd create activity packs for us all," she said, with a hint of embarrassment."
"I was already practising to be a teacher."
At Broken Hill, her dad and mum worked for a mine "until they got married".
"Then Mum wasn't allowed to work there anymore. That's what the rules were. It's quite extraordinary when I think back to it."
From 1930 to 1981, union policy in Broken Hill banned married women from working unless they were professionally trained, according to the Australian Women's Register.
Professor Tynan's family later moved to the east coast, where her mum was able to work.
"She went to tech to get her accountancy qualifications. Mum was an inspiration. She was studying while we were still in school."
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