Varsity’s first female V-C to visit Malaysian campus
THE University of Nottingham has appointed its first female vice-chancellor, Prof Shearer West.
It is also the first time the university will see its vice-chancellor take on the role of a president.
An academic art historian, Prof West has also held a number of significant leadership roles in universities and higher education, including, most recently, as provost and deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Sheffield.
In her first few months in office, she will be meeting staff, students and stakeholders regionally and internationally across the university’s campuses in Nottingham, China and Malaysia.
She will also give an inaugural lecture in December where she will outline her vision for the future of the university.
Prof West graduated with a degree in Art History and English at the College of William and Mary, Virginia, United States, before pursuing a PhD in Art History at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
“I am a strong believer in the value of a comprehensive university like Nottingham.
“We produce research that provides new discoveries across the full disciplinary spectrum, fosters different ways of thinking and benefits society, the economy and our quality of life; and we offer an education that promotes globally-aware responsible citizens who are prepared for a changing world of work.
Prof West began her career as the editor of Grove Dictionary of Art before taking up her first academic post at the University of Leicester, England.
Subsequently, she moved to the University of Birmingham in 1996 as its Head of the History of Art Department, before she took the role of School of Historical Studies head and the acting Head of the College of Arts and Law.
An author of nine books and a publisher of numerous academic articles, she spent four years in the Arts and Humanities Research Council, England as its director of research in 2008.
Prof West is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Historical Society, and has held two visiting fellowships at Yale University.
She was the main panel chair for the national research assessment exercise for Humanities in Norway, and served on the steering group to introduce impact into the Excellence in Research exercise in Australia.