Louise Richardson Will Be the First Woman to Lead Oxford University

Louise Richardson, an Irish political scientist, has been named vice chancellor of the University of Oxford in England. The post is equivalent to a university president in the United States. Oxford, which has roots dating back to the year 1096, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. When she takes office on January 1, Dr. Richardson will be the first woman to lead the university.

For the past six years, Dr. Richardson has been vice chancellor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Previously, she served as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She is the author of What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy Containing the Threat (Random House, 2006).

In accepting the nomination, Professor Richardson said: “Oxford is one of the world’s great universities. I feel enormously privileged to be given the opportunity to lead this remarkable institution during an exciting time for higher education. I am very much looking forward to working with talented, experienced, and dedicated colleagues to advance Oxford’s pre-eminent global position in research, scholarship, and teaching.”

Dr. Richardson is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.