New Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities appointed at UEA
By: Communications
Professor Catherine Richardson has been named as the new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) for Arts and Humanities at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Prof Richardson will begin her new post in September, joining UEA from her current role at the University of Kent as Professor of Early Modern Studies, and Director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries.
She said: “I am delighted and very excited to be taking up this role. Arts and Humanities at UEA has an incredibly strong and distinctive international reputation, and I look forward to working with colleagues to fulfill its ambitions for the future work of its students, staff and region.”
Prof Richardson joined the University of Kent in 2007 from The Shakespeare Institute. During her time there, she has taken on a range of leadership roles including Director of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and Deputy Head and Director of Research for the School of English.
From 2017 to 2020, she was Associate Dean for Research and Innovation (Humanities), with responsibility for the REF submission and establishment of Kent’s Signature Research Themes. In her current role as Director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries, which she has held since 2019, her responsibilities include setting up the Institute and developing its strategic vision.
Catherine is also Professor of Early Modern Studies, her research focusing on material culture and the history of the creative industries. She works closely with museums and archives on creative heritage projects, recently running a large Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) project, ‘The Cultural Lives of the Middling Sort, writing and material culture 1560-1660’, with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Folger Shakespeare Library, Weald and Downland Museum and Portable Antiquities Scheme as partners.
A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Catherine sits on the Council of the Malone Society and, in 2021, took on the role of Governor of the Pasold Research Fund, which promotes and supports research on textile history.
Vice-Chancellor Prof David Maguire said: “I am delighted to have Catherine joining us to head up our Faculty of Arts and Humanities and I look forward to working with her from when she arrives in September.
“We have so many excellent courses, hard-working and talented staff, and gifted students working and studying in our Arts and Humanities Faculty, and I am certain that with her varied background, Catherine will be able to tap into that potential and build on the excellent foundations.
“I would also like to pay tribute to Prof Sarah Barrow, who has served in the role with such distinction over the past seven years, and laid the excellent teaching and research platform for Catherine to build upon.”
Prof Richardson will succeed Prof Sarah Barrow, who has been UEA’s PVC for Arts and Humanities for the past seven years.
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