Lisa O. Roberts is

vice chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

and chief executive of the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

. She took over from professor

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

on his retirement on 1 September 2020.

Early life

In 1990, Roberts graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in medical microbiology and general microbiology from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Career

After graduation, Roberts joined

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

as a product development manager in the UK and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1995, she moved to the BBSRC Institute for Animal Health (now the

Pirbright Institute The Pirbright Institute (formerly the Institute for Animal Health) is a research institute in Surrey, England, dedicated to the study of infectious diseases of farm animals. It forms part of the UK government's Biotechnology and Biological Sc ...

) and the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, where she studied for a PhD in molecular virology. In 1998, she joined the University of Surrey academic staff, where she became lecturer, senior lecturer, and professor of

virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, th ...

. By 2012, she was executive dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, where she launched a new school of veterinary medicine In 2016, she moved to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. In 2019, it was announced that she would succeed Sir Steve Smith on his retirement as vice-chancellor and chief executive at the

as of 1 September 2020. In 2022, Professor Roberts was made Chair of the Department for Education Spiking Working Group to lead a group of academics, practitioners and student victims to improve the prevention of and responses to spiking. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spiking-of-university-students-to-be-tackled

Publications

References

Vice-Chancellors of the University of Exeter British virologists Women virologists Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Kent Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Surrey Procter & Gamble people Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Living people Missing middle or first names {{Microbiology-stub