Dame Madeleine Julia Atkins, (born 2 July 1952) is a British

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the Faculty (academic staff), faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint ...

, scholar of education, and former teacher. Since 2018, she has served as the 9th President of

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. Hist ...

. She was formerly

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 of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

, and the Chief Executive of the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

(2014–2018).

Early life and education

Atkins was born on 2 July 1952. She studied law and history at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

,"Professor Madeleine Atkins CBE, FAcSS appointed as 9th President of Lucy Cavendish College"
lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk, 2 July 2018; retrieved 25 October 2018.Profile
''The Guardian'', 16 December 2003.Profile
hefce.ac.uk; accessed 30 December 2018. graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree in 1974. She then trained as a teacher at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

, completing a

Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...

(PGCE). She obtained a PhD from

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in 1982.

Career

Atkins was a school teacher from 1975 to 1979, before leaving to study for a doctorate. She was then a

post-doctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

at the

from 1982 to 1983, before joining

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

in 1984 as a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

. She was promoted to

senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...

in 1988, and rose to be pro-vice-chancellor (1998 to 2004). She was

from 2004 to 2013. She became Chief Executive of the

(HEFCE) on 1 January 2014. In 2015, Atkins was paid a salary of between £230,000 and £234,999 by HEFCE, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. In June 2018, it was revealed by the

University and College Union The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff. UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...

that she received a pay package worth £554,648 in 2017, which represents a 96% increase on the £282,354 paid to her in 2016-17. In July 2018, it was announced that Atkins would be the next President of

in succession to

Jackie Ashley Jacqueline Ashley (born 10 September 1954) is an English journalist and broadcaster. Early life Ashley was born in St Pancras, London. She is the daughter of Pauline Kay () and Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke, a Labour MP and life peer. S ...

. She took up the post in October 2018, becoming the college's 9th president.

Honours

Atkins was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

for services to Higher Education. She was promoted to

Dame Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mil ...

of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. She is a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of the West Midlands. In 2016, she was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used th ...

(FAcSS).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Madeleine Living people Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Academics of Coventry University Academics of Newcastle University Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Deputy Lieutenants of the West Midlands (county) Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences 1952 births Presidents of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge