Professor Christine Hallett has made history as the first woman to lead a pre-1992 Scottish university. She has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Stirling. Previously, Professor Hallett had served as the university’s Deputy Principal in charge of research, commercialisation, planning and resources. She had acted as the Principal and Vice-Chancellor following the sudden demise of Professor Colin Bell last year. The University Court, the governing body of the university, appointed her to the position following a special meeting. Doris Littlejohn, the Court Chairwoman, expressed her pleasure: "We are thrilled to have been able to appoint Christine Hallett as principal and vice-chancellor."
Christine Hallett is an international expert in social policy, has developed interpersonal skills that are highly prized, and her appointment will be invaluable to keep Stirling moving forward. It is the top research institution of the region that has a great reputation for both learning and teaching. Hallett has a vision to offer higher education opportunities to everybody. Although she graduated from Cambridge in 1970, she earned her PhD in Social Policy from the University of Loughborough in 1994. After that, Professor Hallett fulfilled a series of teaching and research positions in the Universities of Oxford, Keele, and Leicester before joining Stirling University as a Readership in Social Policy in 1989.
Recently, Sir Bill Morris was named as the new chancellor of Staffordshire University. The largely ceremonial role will bring him closer to a university that provides opportunities for people from all walks of life. He retired from the post of general secretary of the T&G union in autumn last year. Sir Bill is a Knight, and he earned his accolade in the Queen’s 2003 birthday honours list. He had been awarded the Order of Jamaica by the Jamaican government in October 2002 previously. In the list of 100 Great Black Britons, Sir Bill and the veteran ITN newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald shared the seventh position.
