Prof Ed Byrne is the fourth president of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He joined KAUST as its president on Sept. 1, 2024, after serving as principal of King’s College London from August 2014 to January 2021. Previously, he was vice chancellor of Monash University in Australia.

Prof Byrne is a renowned neuroscientist who has made significant contributions to the study of neuromuscular disorders through his work in the fields of clinical work, research and education.

After completing a range of studies in England and Australia, Prof Byrne began his career as neurology registrar at Adelaide Hospital in 1978 and returned to Australia, aged 31 and after a four-year placement in England, to become director of neurology at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne in 1983. In 1993, Prof Byrne joined the Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Unit as one of its founding directors before joining the University of Melbourne as a Professor of Experimental Neurology and, later, Monash University as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences. Prof Byrne was then appointed the Vice Provost (Health) at University College London, a position he held until becoming the eighth University President and Vice-Chancellor at Monash University.

Prof Byrne has previously worked as a director of BUPA, a private healthcare insurance provider in the UK that also operates in Australia, and a member of the boards of the Committee for Melbourne and the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee. In 2006 he was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia.