Michael John Worton (born 1951) is a British scholar of French. He was Vice-Provost (International) of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL), appointed 1998. He held this appointment concurrently with the university's Fielden Professorship of French Language and Literature.Michael Worton, UCL website <>. Retrieved 1 June 2010 He retired at the end of September 2013. In 2009, he wrote ''Review of Modern Foreign Languages Provision in Higher Education in England'' for the UK Government, and in the same year was appointed Higher Education Advisor to the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Early life and education

Worton was born in

Luanshya Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 (2008 census). The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people. Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20 ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

(now

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

), of a Yorkshire father and Scottish mother. Worton's family returned to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

when he was still of primary-school age, and he was educated at Sanquhar Academy and then

Dumfries Academy Dumfries Academy is one of four secondary schools in Dumfries in south west Scotland. It is a state funded secondary school for both girls and boys. The schools moto is "doctrina promovet" which translates from Latin to "learning promotes" which ...

, and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

for his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and

Doctor of Philosophy 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 Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degrees. He has lectured around the world on issues in French Literature, gender studies, painting and photography, critical theory and pedagogy. Over the past decade, he has also spoken around the world on issues in Higher Education Policy and Practice. He is also a champion for the importance of modern languages in education.

Career

Worton's first post (1976) was as lecturer in French at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. He then moved to UCL (1980), initially as lecturer in French Language and literature, and successively: Senior Lecturer in French (1991); Professor of French (Personal Chair) and

Dean of Faculty Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usu ...

of Arts(1994); appointed to Fielden Chair of French Language and Literature, as well as Vice Provost – with oversight of UCL's Teaching and Learning, and the faculties of the Arts & Humanities, and Social Sciences (1998). In 2004 his Vice Provost role expanded to 'Academic and International'.

Honours and awards

Worton 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

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

for services to higher education. * 1998:

Chevalier Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

dans l'

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

* 2005: Promoted to Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques * 2009: Medal of Honoured Worker in Education of the

Republic of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

* 25 November 2010: President's Medal by the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

; "for his leadership in addressing 'the languages deficit' among British university students"

Advisory appointments

* Member, Philip Lawrence Awards Judging Panel , Member, European Science Foundation Steering Committee, 'European Reference Index for the Humanities' , Member, Higher Education Panel of the Church of England Board of Education , Chair, HEFCE/AHRC Expert Group on Research Metrics , board member, CreateKX , Member, Prime Minister's Initiative Higher Education Advisory Group , Member, QAA Development Group for Masters Level Benchmarking , Member, British Council, Education and Governance Advisory Group , Member, Research Information Network (RIN) Research and Libraries Working Group , 2007--: Director and Trustee, CARA (Council for Assisting Refugee Academics) , Member, Comité International de Consultation en Sciences Humaines et Sociales de l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Council) , Centre for Education and Industry Diploma in Humanities Steering Group , Appointed Higher Education Advisor to the British Council , Member of the Advisory Board for the Programme of Artistic Research of the Austrian Research Council (FWF).

Publications

* ''Typical Men'' * ''Women's Writing in Contemporary France: New Writers, New Literatures in the 1990s'' * ''National Healths: Gender, Sexuality and Health in a Cross-cultural Context'' * ''Liberating Learning: Widening Participation''edited by Michael Worton and Patrick Derham ( University of Buckingham Press, 2010) * ''

Michel Tournier Michel Tournier (; 19 December 1924 − 18 January 2016) was a French writer. He won awards such as the '' Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française'' in 1967 for '' Friday, or, The Other Island'' and the Prix Goncourt for '' The Erl-King'' ...

'' (edited by Worton, 1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worton, Michael 1951 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of University College London Historians of French literature Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Linguists People from Luanshya Academics of the University of Liverpool Recipients of the President's Medal (British Academy)