News

Ustinov College welcomes new Principal

(22 August 2005)

An English scholar and Fellow of a Cambridge University college is the new Principal of Ustinov College at Durham University.

The University has appointed Dr Penelope Wilson at an exciting point in the history of Ustinov College, with new accommodation and facilities opening in the autumn. She will combine her college role with her academic work as a Reader in the Department of English.

Vice-Chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman said: “The graduate student community is a very diverse and important facet of the University. My colleagues and I are delighted that Dr Wilson is joining us and will bring her valuable experience of both academic and collegiate life.”

Dr Wilson, who specialises in eighteenth century literature with a particular interest in the classical tradition, has spent 29 years as a Fellow of New Hall, one of the Cambridge colleges for women. In addition to her teaching and research, she has looked after admissions, graduate students and other areas of New Hall life for varying periods as Senior Tutor, Vice-President, and in other positions. She also convened the University-wide Senior Tutors’ Committee for four years.

Ustinov is Durham’s only all-graduate student college, with more than 1,200 higher degree students on masters’ or PhD programmes. More than half of them are international students.

Dr Wilson said: “I am greatly looking forward to meeting past and present members and friends of Ustinov College and the Graduate Society from which it grew. I see the College as a beacon for the post graduate research culture in Durham and the UK. It’s a focal point for people from many disciplines and countries and I hope to pursue all the benefits and opportunities that such a community has to offer.”

Dr Wilson added: “This is an important year for the college to grow even stronger as a community. The challenge is there for us to develop as a unique collegiate institution both as a place for students to live and study, and also in fostering a strong and invigorating network for postgraduate education and research.”