PROFESSOR Anne-Marie Kilday is to be the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Northampton.
She takes up her post on August 1, moving from Oxford Brookes University, where she has worked for 22 years, most recently as Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Experience and University Community.
Professor Kilday succeeds UoN’s Vice Chancellor and chief executive Professor Nick Petford, who will step down after 12 years at the end of the current academic year.
Her brief as Vice Chancellor is to lead the development and implementation of a new strategy for the University of Northampton, heading initiatives that transform lives and inspire positive change through learning and research.
“I am hugely honoured and incredibly happy to be joining the team at the University of Northampton in the role of vice chancellor,” said Professor Kilday. “I will very much miss the students and all of my colleagues at Oxford Brookes but I am looking forward to meeting everyone at Northampton and am ready to take on the challenges and seize the opportunities that will come our way.”
Professor `Nick Petford, who is leaving the University of Northampton after 12 years
Her academic career began in Scotland at the University of Strathclyde and
then the University of Glasgow. She joined Oxford Brookes University in 2000 as a lecturer in early modern history and progressed to become principal lecturer and then dean.
Professor Kilday was promoted to Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer and Impact in 2012 and then Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Experience and University Community, with responsibility for all aspects of both student and staff experience. She is a professor of criminal history
Mark Mulcahey, who chairs the University of Northampton’s board of governors, said: “We have chosen a new vice chancellor that embodies our vision and sense of purpose.”
“In addition to being a highly accomplished educator and researcher, Professor Kilday has improved the university experience for staff and students in her current post and driven initiatives around equality, diversity and inclusion. Her dedication to the ideals of using higher education as a catalyst for positive social impact mirrors our own Changemaker ethos.
“She is an aspirational leader with a proven record and we look forward to working with her in this next phase of the university’s development.”
He also paid tribute to Professor Petford. “I would like to thank him for his leadership which has taken us to a new fantastic campus and a revolutionary approach to delivering education.”
