Dame Sandra June Noble Dawson, BA (born 4 June 1946) is a British

social scientist Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

and academic. She was Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from 1999 to 2009, making her the first woman to be master of a formerly all male College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She was the inaugural KPMG Professor of Management Studies at the Cambridge Judge Business School. She has a BA in sociology and history from Keele University.

Academic career

Dawson was also Director of the Judge Business School,

from 1995 to 2006 and one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors of the University of Cambridge between 2008 and 2012. Prior to this Dawson was Professor of Organisational Behaviour within the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(1990-1995) and Deputy Director of the Management School (1987-1994) at

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 ...

Other work

In 2010, the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...

appointed her as a non-executive director at the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority, following her previous role on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

and Chase banks. She is also a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of Oxfam.

Honours

Dawson was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2004.

References

Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Keele University 21st-century British social scientists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1946 births Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Living people Masters of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge National Health Service people Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences {{UK-academic-bio-stub