Dame Victoria Geraldine Bruce, (born 4 January 1953), known as Vicki Bruce, is an English psychologist, Professor of Psychology and former Head of the School of Psychology at
Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
. She is known for her work on human
face perception
Facial perception is an individual's understanding and interpretation of the face. Here, perception implies the presence of consciousness and hence excludes automated facial recognition systems. Although facial recognition is found in other spe ...
and person memory, including
face recognition
A facial recognition system is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a Film frame, video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verif ...
and
recall by eyewitnesses and
gaze
In critical theory, philosophy, sociology, and psychoanalysis, the gaze (French: ''le regard''), in the figurative sense, is an individual's (or a group's) awareness and perception of other individuals, other groups, or oneself. Since the 20th ...
. and other aspects of
social cognition. She is also interested in
visual cognition more generally. She was made a Dame in the
2015 Birthday Honours
The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours were 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 were awarded as ...
list.
Education
Bruce was born on 4 January 1953 in
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England.
[‘BRUCE, Prof. Victoria Geraldine’, Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2011; online edn, November 201]
accessed 28 Jan 2012
/ref> She graduated from Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...
, 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 ...
in 1974 with a BA in Natural Sciences
Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
and completed her PhD
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 graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
'Processing and remembering pictorial information' in 1977 at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit, supervised by Alan Baddeley
Alan David Baddeley CBE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (born 23 March 1934) is a British psychologist. He is known for his research on memory and for developing the three-component model of working memory. He is a professor of psychology at th ...
.
Career
Bruce worked briefly as a demonstrator at Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
before moving to the University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
as a Lecturer in 1978, where she was promoted to Reader in 1988 and Professor in 1990. In 1992 she moved to University of Stirling
The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...
, where she was Deputy Principal for Research from 1995 until 2002. From 2002 to 2008 she was Vice Principal and Head of the College of Humanities and Social Science at 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 ...
. In 2008 she became Head of the School of Psychology at Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
, a role she held until 2015. She remains at Newcastle University as a Professor of Psychology.
Honours and awards
Bruce is an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society
The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom.
History
It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...
, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was President of the BPS in 2001 and is President Elect of the Experimental Psychology Society, to assume the role of President from 2010.
Bruce received the Presidents' Award from the BPS in 1997, was co-recipient of the BPS book award, with Andy Young in 2001 and the BPS Cognitive Psychology Award, with Mike Burton and Peter Hancock in 2000. She received an honorary DSc from Goldsmiths
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable ...
, University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 2002, and from the University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
in 2007. She received an honorary Fellowship of Cardiff University
Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
in 2006 and of the Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...
in 2008. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering
The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) is a non-profit organisation that is the UK's leading independent advocate for science and engineering. It focuses on arguing for more research funding, promoting a high-tech and knowledge-based e ...
.
She was appointed Officer 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 ...
(OBE) for 'Services to Psychology' in 1997. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...
, she was appointed a Dame Commander
''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronetesses in their own right also use the title ''Da ...
of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) 'for services to Higher Education and Psychology'.
References
External links
Vicki Bruce's Biography at Newcastle University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Vicki
1953 births
Living people
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of Nottingham
Academics of Newcastle University
Academics of the University of Stirling
Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge
English psychologists
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Presidents of the British Psychological Society