THE Open University in Scotland has appointed former head of communications at Glasgow University Susan Stewart as its new director.
Ms Stewart, who was also the Scottish Government’s first diplomat in the USA, will take up her new role in December and replaces Dr James Miller.
She said: "As a passionate believer in the power of education to transform lives and empower individuals, I am delighted to be joining the Open University which, for over 40 years, has provided higher education to tens of thousands of people in Scotland who otherwise would not have had that opportunity.
“The Open University places social justice at the heart of its mission and its record in widening access to people from all parts of Scotland is second to none.
“I look forward to playing my part in further strengthening the OU in Scotland by working across the political spectrum and demonstrating its value to the wider community, and promoting the economic and social benefits it brings to the country.”
The Open University in Scotland has had an office in Edinburgh since 1969, the year the university was established by Royal Charter. Its first graduation took place at the Assembly Rooms on George Street in Edinburgh in 1974. The Director is the OU’s senior officer in Scotland and works closely with the Vice-Chancellor. The Director also leads on all relationships with the Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council, other Higher Education Institutions in Scotland and other national agencies.
Keith Zimmerman, University Secretary and Chair of the selection panel, said: “With ongoing changes to the way universities are funded across the UK, the role of our nation directors has never been more important.
"Susan brings with her a wealth of experience and I know she looks forward to working with all political parties, as well as our network of partners, to build on the success of the OU in Scotland and lead it through the opportunities and challenges which lie ahead."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article