Dame Helen Valerie Atkinson (born 29 April 1960) is Pro-Vice-Chancellor of

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

's School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing. She was previously Head of the

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 ...

's Department of Engineering and later Leicester's Graduate Dean. In 2010, she was designated one of the

UKRC The UKRC (UK Resource Centre) is a UK organisation for the provision of advice, services and policy consultation regarding the under-representation of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment (SET). It is funded by the ...

's Women of Outstanding Achievement and featured in the

Women of Outstanding Achievement Photographic Exhibition The Women of Outstanding Achievement Photographic Exhibition was an annual event organised by the UKRC between 2006 and 2012, when it was subsumed into the WISE Campaign awards. It comprised creative photographs of outstanding women within science, ...

. She was elected a fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in 2007, was a vice-president of the Academy from 2012 to 2014 and was elected to its Trustee Board in 2014. Atkinson 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 2014 and

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

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to engineering and education.

Education

Atkinson has a first class degree from

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

in Metallurgy and Materials Science, and a PhD from

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. Her PhD is on the transmission electron microscopy of grain growth in oxide scales, and was carried out at the Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell.

References

1960 births Living people Academics of Cranfield University Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of Imperial College London Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering People educated at South Park High School, Lincoln 20th-century British engineers 21st-century British engineers 20th-century British women engineers 21st-century British women engineers {{UK-engineer-stub