Professor Frances Corner OBE announced as next Warden

Professor Frances Corner OBE has been announced as the next Warden of Goldsmiths, University of London.

Bringing more than 20 years’ experience leading educational institutions, Professor Corner joins Goldsmiths after serving as Head of London College of Fashion, part of University of the Arts London (UAL), where she has additionally served as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Digital.

Professor Corner is the first woman to lead Goldsmiths and is the 13^th Warden since the College was founded as the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Technical and Recreative Institute in 1891.

At Goldsmiths she will be leading an academic community of more than 9,000 students and around 1,500 staff, with the College among the top 25 institutions in the UK for the quality of its research.

Professor Corner said: “Goldsmiths is an institution which can shape society through radical thinking underpinned by a clear sense of purpose.

“That distinctive ethos informs the College’s teaching and must also guide how we seek to meet students’ changing needs and expectations.

“The College has the talents to inspire and inform different approaches to many changes and challenges confronting society, including inequalities, climate change, and increasingly polarised communities.

“These are issues which matter hugely to our students, staff and alumni – and to which politicians, businesses and local, national and international communities are demanding answers.

“Together we can find these solutions and I am both honoured and excited to have the opportunity to lead Goldsmiths at this critical time.”

Professor Corner is a campaigner whose championing of ethical fashion and the transformative power of fashion education has been globally recognised. In 2009 she was awarded an OBE for services to fashion Higher Education and widening participation in arts education. She has also played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Fashion District in East London.

The new Warden will join Goldsmiths in August 2019. Outgoing Warden Patrick Loughrey, who announced his retirement last September having led Goldsmiths since April 2010, is due to leave at the end of May. Professor Elisabeth Hill, currently Deputy Warden, will be Acting Warden in the interim period.

The appointment was made following a full recruitment process which included extensive consultation across the College and relevant external stakeholders.

Dinah Caine CBE, Chair of Council at Goldsmiths and chair of the Search Committee responsible for appointing the Warden, said: “Frances has the vision, energy and ability to build on the College’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading creative higher education institutions. She brings a deep understanding of how universities need to serve their local community while engaging globally, and ensuring that student life is informed by both.

"Under Frances’s leadership, Goldsmiths will be well-placed to reassert its distinctive academic mission for changing times. I look forward to working with her and the whole Goldsmiths community on writing the next exciting chapter in the College’s story.”