A former Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of New South Wales (1992–2002), John Niland is now engaged with corporate and community board directorships and with higher education consultancy in the Region.

Based in Sydney, Professor Niland is Chairman of the Centennial Park Trust and of Campus Living Villages Limited, and is an independent director of Macquarie Group Limited. He serves on the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, and is Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of SMU.

Professor Niland has held academic appointments at Cornell University, the University of Illinois, the Australian National University and UNSW. At UNSW, he was Professor in Industrial Relations for 15 years and Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics for three years. Professor Niland was also Chairman of the Environmental Protection Authority for five years.

While UNSW Vice-Chancellor, he was a foundation director of Universitas 21 and of Australia's Group of Eight research intensive universities. He also served a term as president of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, and as a member of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

In Australia's honours systems, Professor Niland became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to industrial relations policy , and research and reform in 1992 and in 2001 became a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, for services to education. He holds honorary doctorates from Southern Cross University and the University of New South Wales.