Dame Alexandra Vivien Burslem (née Thornley; 6 May 1940 – 3 November 2023), also known as Sandra Burslem, was a British academic and educationalist.

Biography

Born in

Shanghai, China Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Alexandra Vivien Thornley was the daughter of Stanley Morris Thornley, the British

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to China. Sandra Thornley returned to England during the expulsion of the foreign nationals that occurred during the

Communist Revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between ...

. She afterwards attended the Arnold High School for Girls in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and was married in 1960. At the age of 28, she enrolled on her first degree course while she was a single mother at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

(as a

mature student An adult learner—or, more commonly, a mature student or mature-age student—is a person who is older and is involved in forms of learning. Adult learners fall in a specific criterion of being experienced, and do not always have a high school di ...

) and took a

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

-class BA degree in Politics and Modern History. Following this, she became a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

and rose gradually to be Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Academic Director by 1992. Her academic career culminated in September 1997, when she was named as

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 ...

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, where she remained until 2005.

Personal life and death

Her first marriage to James Lowe lasted from 1960 until 1971, from which she had two children, Eliot Lowe and Matthew Lowe. She married Dr Richard Waywell Burslem in 1977 and gave birth to her third child, Victoria. Burslem died on 3 November 2023, at the age of 83.

Honours

Burslem was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(DBE) in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

. She served as High Sheriff of Greater Manchester for 2006–2007 and remains a Deputy Lieutenant of the county. A building at the university's All Saints campus has been named the Sandra Burslem Building.Sandra Burslem Building
foursquare.com

List of posts held

Dame Alexandra Burslem has held a number of public and academic posts: * At Manchester Metropolitan University (formerly Manchester Polytechnic): ** Lecturer in politics and public administration (1973–82) ** Head, Department of applied community studies (1982–86) ** Dean, Faculty of community studies, law and education (1986–88) ** Assistant Director (academic) (1988–90) ** Deputy Director (1990–92) ** Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Academic Director (1992–97) * Justice of the Peace, Manchester Inner City Bench (1981–2010) * Vice-chair,

Learning and Skills Council The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Ma ...

(2004–?) * Chairman, BBC North Regional Advisory Council * Member, BBC General Advisory Council * Deputy Chair, Higher Education Staff Development Agency (HESDA)

Biography

Personal life and death

Honours

List of posts held

References

Further reading