Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell DBE DL, has been invested as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at a Buckingham Palace ceremony.
Dame Glynis received the prestigious honour for her services to higher education on Wednesday 23 May. She has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath since 2001 and under her leadership the University’s reputation as a centre of world-class research and teaching has grown significantly.
She has also led the establishment of a flagship sports facility on the campus where many international and medal-winning athletes now train, not least in the build-up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Dame Glynis has an international reputation as a social psychologist. She has written more than 20 books and is active as a policy adviser and researcher specialising on leadership, identity processes and risk management.
Her research has resulted in her acting as an advisor to many government departments, multi-national corporations and not-for-profit organisations.
She has championed nationally the role of universities in scientific and technological innovation, exploitation and economic regeneration, and has worked over many years to widen participation in science and achieve knowledge transfer from higher education to business.
Commenting on the ceremony, Dame Glynis said: “The investiture event is rooted in the country’s traditions and yet I was struck by how diverse the range of individuals and their achievements were. Rather than looking back to this country’s past the focus felt firmly on celebrating its future. This underlined to me both the importance of valuing the diversity of people’s contributions and the important role we, as a University, have in the country’s future.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has helped develop the University into such a dynamic centre for research, teaching and learning. This award feels like the highest level of accolade for the progress we have all made.”