During Professor Høj's time as Vice Chancellor, UniSA became one of Australia's most rapidly developing universities. For two consecutive years (2010-11), UniSA was the most improved Australian university in the QS World University Rankings - only five universities improved their position since 2009 and UniSA's ranking moved from 19 to 11 in Australia.
Professor Høj was educated at the University of Copenhagen, majoring in biochemistry and chemistry, and has a Master of Science degree in biochemistry and genetics and a PhD in photosynthesis. He is a Fellow of Academies in Australia, the USA and Denmark, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and University of Copenhagen.
Professor Høj was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2019 for “eminent service to higher education and to science, particularly to the commercialisation of research, and to policy development and reform”.
In addition to his academic leadership roles, Professor Høj is Trustee of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and a member of the IP Group Australia Steering Group. His previous Board roles include Wine Australia, the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board for the Medical Research Future Fund, Member of the Australian Human Rights Commission Leadership Council on Cultural Diversity, Group of Eight (including Chair in 2017), Universities Australia, CSIRO, Business SA and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.
Prof Høj also led major improvements to UniSA infrastructure, outlining an investment program of more than $1 billion in physical and virtual infrastructure, including the Jeffrey Smart Building, the $90m learning centre with the adjacent plaza named in his honour.
