Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

Ruth Muldoon Silver (born January 1945,

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

) is a British academic administrator and promoter of education policy. She was Principal of

Lewisham College Lewisham College is a further education college in the London Borough of Lewisham, south-east London. It was established in 1990, having previously been known as SELTEC (South East London College of Technology) since the early 1970s, which was run ...

for 17 years until 2009, and was chair of the Working Men's College governing board from 2002-05. In 2010, she became the chair of the

Learning and Skills Improvement Service The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) was a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and registered Charitable organization, charity formed in 2008 to support and improve achievement in the Further Education and Skills sector in En ...

(LSIS), a public body for Further Education and skills development. Most recently she was president of the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL).

Early life

Siver was born in January 1945; her mother a midwife, her father an engineer. She studied psychology and literature at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and the

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

universities, through a National Union of Mineworkers' scholarship.

Career

Silver served as an adviser to the Select Committee in the House of Commons and a member of the Skills Commission. She sat on the Edge Foundation (ADHD), which aims to raise the status of vocational learning; the Horse's Mouth, an online peer-mentoring enterprise; and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Silver was appointed Chief Assessor for the Centre of Excellence in Leadership's Principals Qualifying Programme. Her employment has included child guidance, teaching and inspection, and in-service at the Department for Education and Skills, developing national education policy on personal development in young people. In 2010, she was appointed to chair the National Taskforce on the Future of the Careers Profession. Silver was a founding trustee of the Edge Foundation, which aims to raising the status of vocational learning, and was the first chief assessor for the Qualifying Programme for Principals. She was a visiting professor on educational developments at

London South Bank University London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...

. She was a member of Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

's UK Women and Work Commission. In 2014, she worked with Glasgow's colleges in the post-merger realignment of their curricula. In 2015-16, she chaired the Scottish Government's Commission on Widening Access to Universities.

Honours

In 2006, she was made a

Dame 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 ...

in recognition for her services to Further Education, having previously been appointed CBE in the

1998 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1998 for the United Kingdom, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis were announced on 30 December 1997, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Ruth 1945 births Living people Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Cambusnethan Date of birth missing (living people) British educators British women educators