07 Mar 07

Oxford University has for the first time appointed a Director of International Strategy. Dr Heather Bell, a partner at McKinsey and Company, is the first to hold this newly created post, which will act as a focal point for Oxford's international relations and global profile.

Dr Bell will oversee Oxford's many links and collaborations with international institutions and organisations, which exist both at University and at departmental level, and ensure that information on the range of these links is made available, and a coherent approach is taken to develop them further.

She will work closely with senior members of the University and its Colleges on international student recruitment to develop strategic priorities, to support alumni relationships, and to raise financial support for specific initiatives such as graduate scholarships.

Dr Bell will bring experience from both academia and business to her new role. She was educated at Harvard, where she graduated in History and Science, and Oxford, where she completed a DPhil in Modern History at Nuffield College in 1996. She then conducted post-doctoral research as the Rhodes Research Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford, publishing Frontiers of Medicine in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1899-1940 with Oxford University Press.

Dr Bell has worked at McKinsey and Company, the management consulting firm, in Toronto and London since 1997. Focused mainly on the healthcare industry, she advised leading global companies and UK public sector institutions on strategy and organisation.

Dr Bell said: 'I am delighted to be the first holder of this exciting post. Oxford is one of a handful of truly global universities. Its unparalleled international reputation stems from many strengths including its distinctive tutorial teaching, its stellar research, the reach of Oxford University Press, and unique programmes such as the Rhodes Scholarships, surely the most famous international scholarships in the world. I look forward to helping bring the best of Oxford to the world, and the best of the world to Oxford.'

Dr Julie Maxton, Registrar of the University of Oxford, said: 'Oxford has always attracted talent from all over the world, ever since the first known overseas student, Emo of Friesland, arrived at Oxford in 1190. Today around a third of our staff and students are from overseas.

'Dr Bell will play a crucial role in ensuring that we don't miss out on talent across the globe - her international experience in strategy and organisation will be invaluable to the University and its Colleges.'

Dr Bell will start her new role at Oxford on 12 March 2007.