Professor Anne Anderson

Chair, UK National Commission for UNESCO Board of Directors.

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Professor Anne Anderson, OBE FRSE and Vice Principal Emerita of the University of Glasgow, holds a research background in psychology exploring how people communicate in text, dialogue and via technologies.

Professor Anderson graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MA and then PhD in psychology. She is now Vice-Principal Emerita and was the first ever Head at the College of Social Sciences. In 2006 she joined the University of Dundee to take up an appointment as Professor of Human Computer Interaction and Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering.

Anne has published widely on communication via technology and has received research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Engineering Council, as well as from industry leaders.

She has also served on the council of the EPSRC and directed two UK wide research programmes on people and technology. Her contributions to further education are vast, as she is deputy chair of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, serves on the board of Visit Scotland and is a member of the Scottish Funding Council Research and Knowledge Exchange committee.

Anne is also an adviser to the British Council (Scotland) and the Robertson Trust and an active fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Anne was awarded an OBE for services to social science in 2002 and became the gender champion at the University of Glasgow in 2013.

Institution

Vice Principal Emerita
University of Glasgow

Since 2019

Alma-Matter

University of Glasgow, MA and PhD.

Role

Chair, Lead Director of the Further Education Portfolio, UK National Commission for UNESCO

Since 2019

“As the UK Higher Education Commissioner it is fascinating to have the chance to contribute to discussions of education policy, whether that is how to share experiences of coping with COVID-19 or the importance of the recognition of HE qualifications of refugees. It is also a pleasure to help some of our most distinguished academics become UNESCO Chairs and to see them then making significant contributions to progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Professor Anne Anderson

Liaising with the UK’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO and approved by HM government, our Non-Executive Directors help steer the direction of the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and are each responsible for overseeing a particular field of UNESCO’s work in the UK.

ROLE AT UNESCO

Professor Anne Anderson is the Chair of the UK National Commission for UNESCO’s Board of Directors, specialising in Further Education.

Institutions

University of Glasgow
Vice Principal Emerita, Head of the College of Social Sciences.

2010 – 2019

University of Dundee
Professor of Human Computer Interaction and Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering

FROM 2006 – 2010

Economic and Social Research Council
Research Programme Director

FROM 1995 – 2006

Role at UNESCO

Chair, UK National Commission for UNESCO’s Board of Directors, Further Education Portfolio.

SINCE 2019

COMMISSION

The UK National Commission for UNESCO

ESTABLISHED 1945 – LONDON, ENGLAND

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is the United Nations body responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication. The UKNC is a hub for all UNESCO-related matters in the UK, and the Board of Directors take part in formulating and regularly reviewing the strategic aims of the commission.

SELECTED PUBLISHED WORK

Read about some of the projects and initiatives that Anne has been a part of: