Edinburgh Napier University
Dame Joan was appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier in January 2003, the first woman to head a Scottish University. Edinburgh Napier has a turnover of around £100 million, nearly 2000 staff and 15,000 students. Suddenly she had been catapulted into the big league.
Edinburgh Napier had already achieved university status – in 1992 – but like many of the UK institutions which had been granted similar status at that time, it faced enormous challenges in proving itself a worthy rival to the traditional universities which could measure their achievements over centuries.
Unfazed by the challenge, Dame Joan set her sights high. Becoming more financially independent underpinned an ambitious agenda: she wanted Edinburgh Napier to be the best modern university in Scotland and one of the best in the UK; she wanted its graduates to be the most sought-after by employers; she wanted to widen access to education for all; and she wanted to internationalise Edinburgh Napier’s offerings.
She achieved all these goals and more during her 10 years at Edinburgh Napier leaving a legacy of new campuses and one of the strongest balance sheets of any university in the UK or Europe.
“At Edinburgh Napier we focused on delivering high value, high quality graduates who could make a contribution to the health, wealth and prosperity of Scotland and the many nations from which they came,” she reflects. Evidence of the success resulting from that focused vision is not difficult to find.
Accolades include the fact that Edinburgh Napier’s graduates had the best employment prospects of all Scottish universities, according to the Independent Complete University Guide, 2009, and The Times Good University Guide, 2009. The Guardian also praised the University’s business school as the “best modern business school in the UK for business and management studies”.
The business school is located within the much-admired Craiglockhart Campus, which under Dame Joan was redeveloped at a cost of £30m, and is now regarded as one of Scotland’s most modern university facilities while the impressive Sighthill Campus greets thousands of visitors to Edinburgh each and every day.
A Lasting Legacy
Plans are already in place to expand the campus by creating a “sustainable state-of-the-art building with premier teaching and learning facilities” Around 5,000 of Napier’s 15,000 students, plus 300 staff, will be based there.
In pursuing her bigger vision, however, Dame Joan did not lose sight of her other objectives. Under her leadership, Edinburgh Napier performed well above the Scottish average in terms of providing wider access to higher education, particularly to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The establishment of the Centre for Women in Science, Engineering & Technology boosted female intake to traditionally male-dominated sectors as part of her equal opportunities agenda.
Dame Joan implemented one of the most successful international expansion programmes of any British university and, as previously mentioned, Dame Joan’s personal contribution in forging educational links with China, where Edinburgh Napier works with 20 different universities, has been formally recognised by the Chinese government.
One significant measure of her outstanding success in this field is the fact that 10 per cent of Edinburgh Napier’s students are Chinese. Thanks to Dame Joan, the university is also extremely active in India, Malaysia and the Middle East.
As if Dame Joan’s ground-breaking activities in education weren’t enough to keep her fully occupied, she has demonstrated a willingness to become involved in a diverse range of activities covering the broad spectrum of public life in Scotland and the UK.
Her current and past interests are listed elsewhere, but they range from senior positions within the education sector to public sector appointments with groups such as the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Judicial Appointments Board, the British Council and the National Theatre of Scotland.
Dame Joan is also a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
International Student Fund
So far, £50,000 has been raised for the new Dame Joan Stringer International Student Fund. In this video students speak about how grants have enabled them to travel and work overseas.