Kateryna Longley was appointed to the newly-created position of Pro Vice Chancellor (Regional Development) in June 2002.  She has special responsibility for the University's activities in the Rockingham, Kwinana and Peel areas, together with other regional initiatives.

Until taking up this new position, she had been Executive Dean of the Division of Social Sciences and Education since 1999 and she is also a Professor in the School of Arts. She holds a PhD in Literature from Melbourne University, a Masters degree from Sussex, a B.A. (Honours) degree from LaTrobe and an AUA from Adelaide. Before becoming an academic she was a secondary school teacher of Mathematics and Science in England, US and Australia. In 1986 she took up her first position at Murdoch as a Lecturer in the English and Comparative Literature Program. From 1992 - 1994 she was the Dean of the former School of Humanities and during 1998 she served as the Interim Pro Vice Chancellor (Research). Professor Longley has published extensively in the field of contemporary Australian and Canadian literature. As a Ukrainian immigrant she has a special interest in literature dealing with issues of migration and cultural dislocation. She has served on many committees and boards both within the University and in the wider community. From 1992-1995 she was the Chair of the South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies and Editor of the journal SPAN and from 1997-2000 she was the Chair of the Judging panel for the Asia Pacific panel of the Commonwealth Literature Prize and also on the World panel. In 2000 she was the winner of the WA Telstra Business Women's Awards in the Shell Community and Government category, recognised for her contribution to the Higher Education industry.