Respected Australian neuroscientist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Alan Finkel will be the next chancellor of Melbourne's prestigious Monash University.

Finkel, a co-founder of the popular science magazine COSMOS and its publishers Luna Media, is the seventh Chancellor in the university's 50 year history, but the first Monash graduate to be appointed to the prestigious role.

The Monash University Council finalised the appointment at a meeting this week. Vice-Chancellor Richard Larkins said it was a coup for the university to secure the services of such a prominent Australian.

"Alan Finkel will bring a wealth of experience and skills to Monash, from his experience with medical research, the commercialisation of scientific discoveries, through to the governance of complex organisations." Larkins said in a statement.

"Like Monash University, Alan has a truly global perspective on the links between science, innovation and education," he added. "As a Monash graduate and the current chair of the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, based at the University, Alan is already very much part of the Monash family."

Finkel said he looked forward to starting on January 1, 2008.

"I am honoured by the opportunity to work with professor Larkins and the Council on the governance of this extremely successful university," he said. "I look forward to participating in the development of the strategies that will enable Monash to be highly responsive to the continually changing nature of university funding and to be innovative with respect to educational initiatives and research priorities."

Finkel received his doctorate in Electrical Engineering at Monash University in 1981. After two years of postdoctoral research at the Australian National University in Canberra he went on to establish and lead Axon Instruments Inc, a world-class supplier of electronic and robotic instruments and software for use in cellular neuroscience, genomics and drug discovery both in the university and pharmaceutical company research sectors.

He recently invented a device that was successfully commercialised to speed drug research, and has also co-founded the award-winning science magazine COSMOS, managed the merger of several prominent research institutes, represented the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in a program to foster appreciation of science in secondary school students, and co-founded a company distributing educational toys and books for children.

Luna Media is a boutique publishing company established in 2004 and based in Sydney which produces the popular science magazine, COSMOS, its partner website Cosmos Online, and G Magazine, a green lifestyle title for people who love life, their lifestyle and the planet.

In November 2006 Luna Media was named Best Small Publisher at Australia's annual Bell Magazine Awards. It was founded by four individuals: Finkel, magazine publishing executive Kylie Ahern and science journalists Wilson da Silva and Elizabeth Finkel. The first issue of COSMOS was launched in June 2005; the online news and features service, Cosmos Online, went live in June 2006; and the first issue of G Magazine went on sale in November 2006.