Dame Julia Mary Goodfellow (née Lansdall; born 1 July 1951) is a former

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, and Chair of the

British Science Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scien ...

. She was the president 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 ...

from 1 August 2015 until July 2017.

Early life, education and career

Goodfellow completed her BSc degree in physics at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

Faculty of Science: Alumni and friends
, bristol.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2016. and obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

degree in biophysics at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

Research Unit in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. She began her career as Professor of Biomolecular Science at

Birkbeck College , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £109 ...

in 1995, and was promoted to Vice Master in 1998. In 2002, she was appointed chief executive of the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific res ...

, the first woman to lead a UK research council. Goodfellow served as chair of the

from 2009 to 2014. In 2007, she was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent. In 2011, she was appointed to both the Council for Science and Technology and the

Science and Technology Facilities Council The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astro ...

. Currently, Goodfellow is a member of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) advisory board. Goodfellow was elected

president from 2015 to 2017, the first woman to hold the role. In 2015 Goodfellow stated that Universities UK supported staying in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, citing the “economic growth, employable graduates and cutting edge research discoveries” that the EU could provide in the education sector. In 2018 she became president of the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

Honours

*2001: Appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) *2002: Honorary

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(Hon DSc) degree from the University of Bristol *2002: Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal char ...

*2004: Doctor of the University (DUniv) degree from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

*2005: Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

*2005: Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Durham University *2009: Honorary Doctor of Science degree 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 owns and operates majo ...

*2010: Promoted to

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(DBE) 'For services to Science'

Personal life

In 1972 Julia Lansdall married

Peter Goodfellow Peter Goodfellow may refer to: * Peter Goodfellow (geneticist) (born 1951), British geneticist * Peter Goodfellow (politician) Peter Goodfellow (born 1953) is a New Zealand businessman and politician, served as President of the New Zealand Nati ...

, with whom she has one daughter and one son.

Criticism

Goodfellow has been criticised for her travel expenses and pay for the 2014-15 year. Her travel expenses were reported to be £26,635, with 92% of flights being first or business class. She also received a pay rise of 3% in the same year, increasing her salary to £272,000.Florence Maher
UKC VC spent a staggering £26,635 on flying first class last year
thetab.com; accessed 9 April 2016. She received a £43,000 pay rise in 2012–13, a rise of 19%.University of Kent vice-chancellor Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow's salary increases to £265,000
kentonline.co.uk; accessed 9 April 2016. Other staff at the university were striking to secure a 2% pay rise in the same year. The university was criticised by the University and College Union for attempting to "obscure key information" by obfuscating records of the meeting in which her salary was decided.

Selected publications

* * * * * * *

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodfellow, Julia 1951 births Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Alumni of the Open University Alumni of the University of Bristol British women scientists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English biophysicists English physicists Fellows of the Institute of Physics Living people Vice-Chancellors of the University of Kent Place of birth missing (living people) Women academic administrators Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)