Colin Bryan Riordan

FLSW The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...

(born 27 July 1959) is a British academic who was formerly President and

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 ...

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

from September 2012 to August 2023.

Education

Riordan obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from 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 ...

in 1986.

Career

Riordan taught English as a foreign language at Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg in Germany (1982–84). He was Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer in German at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

from 1986 to 1998. He became Professor of German at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in 1998, later being appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor and Provost of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in August 2005. In October 2007, he took up the post of Vice-Chancellor at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. On 1 September 2012, he became Vice-Chancellor of

. In 2013, he was elected a

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh nation. The Learned ...

. In 2015, under his purview as Vice-Chancellor, Riordan announced that Cardiff University would launch five new flagship research centres, each focusing on a world issue. These include resolving chronic diseases; the scarcity of water; the prevention of crime; studying big data; and creating smarter energy systems. Riordan was appointed

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 ...

(CBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 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 celebratio ...

for services to higher education.

Research and publications

He has published on post-war German literature and culture, including editing books on the writers

Jurek Becker Jurek Becker (; – 14 March 1997) was a Polish-born German writer, screenwriter and East German dissident. His most famous novel is ''Jacob the Liar'', which has been made into two films. He lived in Łódź during World War II for about two y ...

Uwe Johnson Uwe Johnson (; 20 July 1934 – 22 February 1984) was a German writer, editor, and scholar. Such prominent writers and scholars as Günter Grass and Hans Mayer declared Johnson to be the most significant writer to emerge from East Germany. Duri ...

and Peter Schneider.

Personal life

In November 2017, shortly after missing Bisexual Visibility Day, Riordan

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as bisexual in a monthly email to staff. The

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 ...

quoted him as saying, "Only a few vice chancellors have spoken out about being gay or lesbian and none about being bi, as far as I'm aware." He has two daughters from a former marriage.

Memberships

* Vice-president and board member of

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

* Board member of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education * Trustee, the

Edge Foundation The EDGE Foundation (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) is an organization based in Claremont, California, United States, that was established in 2013. The foundation sponsors the EDGE Program, which was established in 1998 to help women ...

* Member of UK NARIC Advisory Council * Member of

UCAS The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a charity and private limited company based in Cheltenham, England, which provides educational support services. Formed on 27 July 1993 by the merger of the former university admis ...

board of trustees * Board member of the Equality Challenge Unit * Chair, Universities UK International (UUKi) * Member of the International Education Council sponsored by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills * Chair of the International Policy Network of Universities UK In 2013 he became chair of Higher Education Wales, the body which represents the interests of Higher Education Institutions in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Colin Thomas Living people 1959 births Linguists from the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of Cardiff University Academics of Swansea University Academics of Newcastle University Academics of the University of Essex British bisexual men People from Cardiff Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales