Professor Georgina Andrews has been announced as the new Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University.
Professor Andrews is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of Bath Spa University. She will succeed Professor Sue Rigby who will become Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University on 1 January 2025, after seven years at BSU.
Georgina said
“It is an honour and a privilege to have been appointed to lead Bath Spa University as the Vice-Chancellor, at such an exciting time in its history. The BSU community of learners is inclusive, collaborative and vibrant. We are rooted in the world heritage city of Bath, but our talented students and staff are also based at our site in London, and our valued partners support diverse cohorts of learners across the UK and overseas. Under my leadership we will raise our profile and ambition as we claim our rightful position as a confident, successful, professionally creative University for the future.”
Professor Andrews has considerable senior leadership experience and a proven record of engaging internal and external stakeholders to deliver successful outcomes. She has a background in law and has led two distinctive and successful Business Schools. Georgina is passionate about breaking down barriers to higher education and the role of universities as anchor institutions in their communities and catalysts for inclusive growth.
Before joining the university sector, Georgina was a solicitor in private practice specialising in company and commercial law. Georgina also has a track record of external engagement and serving in non-executive roles, including as an elected member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) Council, Chair of the CABS Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Committee and as an Assessor and Assessment Panel Chair for the Small Business Charter.
On her experience since joining the University in 2015, Georgina said,
“BSU has grown significantly over recent years and has established firm foundations for future success. We have expanded our curriculum to include professionally creative ‘new curriculum’ courses in subjects such as Law, Architecture, Wildlife Conservation, Biomedical Sciences, Forensic Science, Sports Management, Sport and Exercise Nutrition and Sports Media Production. As Vice-Chancellor I will ensure that we continue to innovate, and to enshrine teaching, learning and the student experience as our top strategic priority.
“I am passionate about inclusion, widening participation, and the transformative power of higher education. As Vice-Chancellor I will champion parity of esteem between world leading research, impactful knowledge exchange, and teaching excellence. I believe all three should be interconnected, sustainable and inclusive.”
Jonathan Glasspool, Chair of Bath Spa University's Board of Governors said:
“I am delighted to welcome Professor Georgina Andrews as our next Vice-Chancellor, following a highly competitive selection process.
“Georgina is a senior university executive with an extensive record of strategic and operational leadership. She brings significant experience and expertise and most importantly, she has a set of values and aspirations that align very closely with those of Bath Spa University.
“She is therefore perfectly placed to build on the very substantial progress made by the University under Professor Sue Rigby’s leadership.”
This follows the announcement that Professor Becky Schaaf will take up the role of interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University in January, supporting Professor Georgina Andrews as Vice-Chancellor.