Professor Dame Louise Richardson

About

Professor Louise Richardson was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 01 January 2016 to 31 December 2022, having previously served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, Scotland, for seven years.

A native of Ireland, she received a BA in History from Trinity College, Dublin, an MA in Political Science from UCLA, and an MA and PhD in Government from Harvard. She was Assistant and Associate Professor in Harvard’s Department of Government (1989-2001).

At Harvard, Richardson also served as Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2001-2008) where she was instrumental in its transformation into an interdisciplinary center promoting scholarship across academic fields and the creative arts.

A political scientist by training, Richardson has specialized in international security with an emphasis on terrorist movements. She has written widely on international terrorism, British foreign and defense policy, security institutions, and international relations.

She currently serves as a trustee on a number of non-profit groups, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Booker Prize Foundation and the Scottish WWI Commemorations Panel.

She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom, an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.