As Professor Peter Lambert finishes his role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching) at the end of July 2021, we pay tribute to his achievements over the last six years.
Professor Lambert was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching) in July 2015, responsible for developing and implementing our Education Strategy and working with the SU to develop the student experience.
Under Peter’s leadership, we have further enhanced our track record on learning and teaching, student experience and employability, helping to attract some of the best and brightest students in the world. In 2017, Peter led the University’s submission to the first Teaching Excellence Framework in 2017 for which we were awarded Gold in recognition of the outstanding teaching and support we offer across our community. In 2018 we were ranked 4th in the UK in the last THE Student Experience Survey and our National Student Survey (NSS) results have been consistently positive, reflecting the holistic education and experience students receive at Bath.
Professor Ian White, Vice-Chancellor and President, said:
“Professor Lambert has engendered a really special sense of partnership working across our teaching community, which has enabled so much to thrive. Rankings are but one factor in terms of success, but our results on retaining students and on the employability of our graduates have continued to be exceptionally strong. In fact, an under-reported piece of analysis last year put us first in the UK when you combine employability and NSS scores, a deeply impressive result.
“I would like to thank Peter most sincerely for his leadership over the last six years and particularly in the last academic year, where the real collaboration with departments has enabled us to navigate one of the most challenging years in our history. His role with the Resilient Curriculum Project Team developing the Bath Blend in particular was deeply appreciated. His work on student wellbeing and supporting students in need has also been very important. I’m most grateful that Peter has agreed to continue to play an important role in student conduct matters going forward.”
Professor Peter Lambert said:
“It has been an honour to work with outstanding and inspiring colleagues in both academic and professional services to further our learning and teaching and the student experience during the last six years. Not only have we managed to retain our excellent track record in education, but we have made great strides in student welfare too, developing and launching our outstanding Wellbeing Service, a sector-leading NeverOk campaign to combat sexual harassment and bullying, and important policies, for example to support students with disabilities.
“I am also very proud to have worked with colleagues and students to become a University of Sanctuary, providing support for students from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. We currently support 23 students with refugee and asylum seeker status something that was simply not on the cards in 2015. We wouldn’t have achieved this without real partnership working with, campus trade unions, the SU and many other colleagues.
“Finally, I’m really pleased to see the progress made on Curriculum Transformation, despite all the challenges of undertaking such a significant change in difficult times. Some of the original principles such as developing an inclusive curriculum, staff and student wellbeing and embedding sustainability, now seem obvious, and the success of vanguard courses has been truly inspiring.
“Overall, I have really enjoyed being part of such a collegial community of quite brilliant colleagues in learning and teaching and look forward to continuing to contribute to this community in future.”
Professor Peter Lambert gained his first degree in American Studies at the University of Birmingham and completed his PhD in Latin American Politics at the University of the West of England.
Peter joined the University of Bath in 2000 to lead the successful re-introduction of Spanish and Latin American Studies in the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies. He was President of the Society for Latin American Studies 2007-9 and took on the role of Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences in 2010. He was awarded the University prize for Leadership in Learning and Teaching in 2012 and was promoted to Professor of Latin American Studies in 2014.