New Chief Executive of HEFCE announced
Professor Madeleine Atkins CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University, has been appointed Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Professor Atkins studied law and history at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a secondary school teacher. She taught for four years in a comprehensive school in Huntingdon before returning to higher education to complete her doctorate at the University of Nottingham.
Following various post-doctoral research positions, she became a lecturer in education management at Newcastle University. She developed an interest in the use of new technologies to support effective learning, and held a number of senior academic and management roles. Professor Atkins became Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University in September 2004.
Professor Atkins has a longstanding commitment to the contribution of higher education to the economy and society. She is a trustee of the National Centre for Universities and Business, a trustee of Nesta, an Associate of the Engineering Council, and a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Board. She is Deputy Chairman and Council Member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Professor Atkins has been a member of the HEFCE Board since 2009.
She succeeds Sir Alan Langlands, who takes up the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds in the autumn.
Posted in: Higher education news