Professor Madeline Eacott to be our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education

Professor Madeline Eacott is to be our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education at the University of Essex.

Most recently Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Durham, Professor Eacott will take on her new role at Essex on 2 January 2018.

Born and raised in Essex, Professor Eacott’s research interests focus on the mechanisms of long-term memory, with a particular interest in episodic memory, the process which allows us to remember personally experienced events.

Commenting on her new role Professor Eacott said: “I am delighted to be joining the University of Essex. When I visited the university I was impressed by the friendly atmosphere but also the ambition and commitment to achieving the best.

“The recent Gold award in the TEF is testament to the great work that has been going on at Essex and so I am looking forward to working with everyone who has been part of that success and contributing as Essex goes from strength to strength. In my previous work at Durham, I led our departmental Silver Athena SWAN award with a commitment to supporting all to achieve their potential and I can see clear synergy here with the work at Essex.”

Welcoming Professor Eacott’s new role at Essex, Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster said: “Madeline brings a wealth of experience to the role of PVC Education, in particular a commitment to excellence in education and research and the importance of the student experience to an Essex Education. We are delighted that Madeline will be joining us in this role.”

Professor Eacott has a BSc in Psychology from Reading University and a DPhil from Oxford University. In 1989, she took up a five-year Stothert Royal Society Research Fellowship at Oxford University.

She has worked at Durham University since 1994 in various roles, including ten years as Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Science with responsibility for postgraduate and undergraduate education. She also served as Chair of Durham University’s Education Committee and its Discipline Committee. Most recently Professor Eacott spent three years as Head of the Department of Psychology at Durham.

Professor Eacott is a fellow of the British Psychological Society, Associate Editor for the journal Memory and member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews. 

She will be taking over as Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education from Professor Aletta Norval, who is to become Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Anglia Ruskin University after making a major 
contribution to the University for over 26 years.