Prof. Mary Stuart

CBE 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 ...

(born c.1957) is a South African born academic and the former Vice Chancellor of the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

Life

Stuart was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and she attended a dance school there. She later moved to what was then

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

before relocating with her husband to the United Kingdom. For a while, they and their children lived in a homeless hostel until the council supplied accommodation. She attended the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and later obtained a doctorate in Social Policy from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a 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 undergraduate ...

in 1998. She was appointed to be Vice Chancellor at the

in 2009 following on from David Chiddick. Her research interests are life histories, social mobility, students and community development. Stuart notes that a university in Lincoln was only created as a trial. She entered into an unusual collaboration with

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

who was a local employer. The company assists in choosing the head of the university's Engineering department. Stuart is aware this is unusual, but she remembers South Africa where large companies were a more positive influence than the government. Stuart is supported by five Deputy Vice-Chancellors. In 2018, she was awarded a CBE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Mary 1950s births Living people South African academics Academics of the University of Lincoln Alumni of the Open University University of Cape Town alumni Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire