New Pro-Vice-Chancellor appointed
05 Nov 09
Dr Sally Mapstone, Reader in Older Scots Literature, CUF Lecturer in English at St Hilda’s College and Chair of the English Faculty Board, has been appointed Oxford University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Personnel and Equality).
In the role Dr Mapstone will provide leadership across the collegiate University and externally on the range of personnel and equality issues.
The role includes chairing the Personnel Committee and the Task Force on Academic Employment; overseeing the development and evolution of the University’s Human Resources Strategy; and taking a lead on equality and diversity issues in relation to race, disability, gender and other equality strands across the University.
Dr Mapstone said: ‘Having worked for many years with colleagues and students in college and in the University, I’m greatly looking forward to extending these contacts, and in particular to completing the work of the Task Force and taking forward the University’s equality agenda.'
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton, said: ‘Attracting, retaining and rewarding academics and staff is a priority for Oxford – as is ensuring equality of treatment and embracing diversity. Dr Mapstone’s knowledge and experience make her well placed to lead developments in these areas.’
Dr Mapstone was Junior Proctor for 2006–07. She has been Chair of the English Faculty Board since 2007. Within St Hilda’s she was Senior Tutor in English from 1994 to 2006, and in the past has served as Dean of Graduates, as Secretary to the Governing Body and on all major college committees.
Dr Mapstone did her BA and DPhil at Oxford, and has been a Fellow of St Hilda’s since 1984. Her research is primarily on Older Scots literature and on book history, on both of which she has published widely. She is the first woman, and the first English person, to be President of the Scottish Text Society, a position she has held since 2001.
The role is a 50% appointment; Dr Mapstone will continue to hold her existing academic positions, albeit on a reduced basis, and to pursue her research.
Dr Mapstone took up post on 13 October 2009, for an initial term of five years. She succeeds Dame Fiona Caldicott, who has been appointed Chair of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust while remaining Principal of Somerville College until summer 2010 and continuing to make a significant contribution to issues relating to personnel and equality during that period.