Dame Janet Olive Trotter (born 29 October 1943) is an academic and administrator in higher education; she helped found the

University of Gloucestershire The University of Gloucestershire is a public university based in Gloucestershire, England. It is located over five campuses, three in Cheltenham and two in Gloucester. The university is the successor of a large number of merged, name-changed ...

in 2001, becoming its first Vice-Chancellor in the same year. She lives in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Career

Trotter was born in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and attended the Technical High School for Girls at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

before entering Bishop Lonsdale Church of England College (1962-1965) (now part of the

University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...

), where she read Religious Studies. Trotter taught at King Alfred's College, Winchester (now the University of Winchester) before becoming Vice-Principal of

St Martin's College St Martin's College was a British higher education college with campuses in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle, as well as sites in Whitehaven, Barrow-in-Furness, Barrow and London. It provided undergraduate and postgrad ...

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

(now part of the

University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, establi ...

) and Principal of St Paul and St Mary's College,

. In 1989 she chaired

HM Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

's committee which produced the "Trotter Report" for the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

on the use of

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

in initial

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitude (psychology), attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they requir ...

. In 1990 she was appointed Director of the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, when St Paul and St Mary's College was merged with the higher education sector of the Gloucestershire College of Art and Technology. Trotter subsequently oversaw its conversion into the

in 2001, and was its founding

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

and

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

until her retirement in 2006. As chair of the Council of Church Colleges and Universities she was instrumental in advocating a church presence in higher education. While pursuing a career in

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

, she has also held several positions within the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

and the Southwest of England. She is currently chair of the Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust. On 24 October 2010, Trotter was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. Since 1694, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire. * Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos 1559–? * Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Cha ...

. Trotter is a Lay Member of Chapter of

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

Dame Trotter is currently chair of The Cyber Trust, a charity founded by Professor Richard Benham in 2016 to help vulnerable groups online.

Awards and honours

Trotter was appointed

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1991, promoted to DBE in 2001 and CVO in 2018. She has received

honorary doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

ates from the

University of Pecs A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

;

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally Etown) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Elizabethtown College was founded in 1899 by members of the Church of the Brethren in response to an initiative by ...

;

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

;

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

; the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

; Newman University College and the

Publications

* *

References

External links

Official biography
2004 Report of

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social servi ...

(page 20), archived 2 April 2012, accessed September 2021.
Report on inauguration of University of Gloucestershire

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Report on inauguration of University of Gloucestershire

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

Official biography

University of Chichester The University of Chichester is a public university located in West Sussex, England, which became a university in 2005. Campuses are based in the city of Chichester and the nearby coastal resort of Bognor Regis and an associate campus for comm ...

Official biography
, Orchestra of the Swan
Honorary Doctorate citation

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

Honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire

Entry in Debretts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trotter, Janet 1943 births Living people People from Kent People associated with the University of Gloucestershire Academics of the University of Cumbria Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Lord-lieutenants of Gloucestershire People from Cheltenham