Professor Karen Stanton Announced as UAL’s permanent Vice Chancellor

UAL is delighted to announce that Professor Karen Stanton has been appointed as its permanent Vice-Chancellor. Karen has been the Interim Vice-Chancellor since the departure of James Purnell in September 2024, where she has used her in-depth knowledge of higher education and empathetic approach to support UAL through a crucial period of change.

Karen's vision for UAL is to build and develop the existing strategy to ensure the University goes from strength to strength. Having been impressed with Karen's work as Interim Vice-Chancellor, Governors encouraged her to apply for the permanent role.

Before her Interim role at UAL, Professor Karen Stanton was Interim Vice-Chancellor at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln and prior to that she held the post of Vice-Chancellor at York St John and Solent Universities. She has also held senior leadership roles at the universities of Birmingham, Nottingham, King's College London, and Glasgow Caledonian University. Karen spent a year on the UAL Court of Governors.

Karen's leadership in the higher education sector has resulted in a number of cross-sector roles including Chair of the Cathedrals Group of Universities, Deputy Chair of GuildHE and a former Trustee of UCAS. Karen is regularly invited to give keynote lectures at conferences on both the future of technology in Higher Education and on how universities can expand their international portfolios.

The recruitment for the Vice-Chancellor was a full, global search. Karen's permanent role is effective immediately.