News

First female Registrar appointed at Durham University

(16 April 2009)

Carolyn Fowler

Durham University has appointed its first female Registrar and Secretary in its 177 year history.

Carolyn Fowler, 39, becomes the first woman to be appointed permanently to the post after initially holding the position on an acting basis. As Registrar Mrs Fowler is the University’s chief operating officer with responsibility to the Vice-Chancellor for the University’s business. She heads the Registrar’s Division of professional support departments which includes more than 650 staff working in areas of student admissions and recruitment, human resources, careers, libraries, IT, business relations, international services, communications and fundraising. The Registrar is also secretary to the overall governing Council committee and the Senate, which oversees academic policy-making and is a member of the University’s senior management team and executive committee. Mrs Fowler was one of the first women to attend Durham’s University College, housed in Durham Castle, and graduated in 1990 with an honours degree in History. Following various posts in the private and public sector in 1998 she was appointed as Administrative Officer in the School of Education at Durham before becoming Head of the Undergraduate Section in the Registrar’s Division. She became Deputy Director of the University’s Strategic Planning and Change Unit in 2004 and a year later was appointed as Academic Registrar. She became acting Registrar and Secretary when Lee Sanders left Durham University for a leading role at the University of Birmingham in October 2008. Mrs Fowler, originally from Kent, is married to Tim and has a daughter, Elinor, nine. She said: “Durham is a place I really love and having arrived here as a student more than 20 years ago I am extremely proud to have been appointed as Registrar to the University. “Durham is one of the UK’s top universities with a strong record in teaching and research and an extremely professional support service which combine to provide students with a truly first class experience. “I look forward to working with the whole University community to build on these strengths over the coming years.” Durham University Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Higgins said: “The Registrar and Secretary is a key role in developing and implementing the University’s strategy and in developing the professionalism of our support departments in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace. “Carolyn has already done an excellent job as acting Registrar and I look forward to continuing our work together to further enhance the Durham experience for both students and staff.”