Professor Julia Buckingham, CBE, DSc, FRSB

Job title

Chair of Concordat Strategy Group, and Vice-Chancellor and President, Brunel University London

Biography

Julia Buckingham read Zoology at the University of Sheffield and, after a short spell in the pharmaceutical industry, moved to London to study for a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of London and to pursue an academic career.  She was awarded a DSc and appointed to the Chair of Pharmacology at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in 1987 where she became Pre-clinical Dean in 1992.  She joined Imperial College London in 1997, contributing to the establishment of the new Faculty of Medicine and held the roles of College Dean for non-clinical Medicine, Head of the Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Head of the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology and Pro-Rector (Education and Academic Affairs).  In 2012 she was appointed Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel University London.  Throughout her career Julia has combined research and education with supporting the broader aspects of academic life through work with the research councils, medical charities and learned societies.  She has published widely in her field, served on numerous national and international review panels and received a number of prestigious awards and honours for her work; she was appointed a CBE in 2018 for services to Biology and Education and elected to a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2019.  Former roles include President of the British Pharmacological Society, President of the Society for Endocrinology, Member of the Sykes Commission, Chair of SCORE, Editor of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology, Chairman of BioScientifica Ltd, a Trustee of the Royal Institution, Royal Society of Biology and STEMNET and a Governor of St Mary’s Calne.  She is currently President of Universities UK, a Director of Imperial College Health Partners and of the National Centre for Universities and Business, Chair of The Concordat Strategy Group, supporting the career development of researchers, and Chair of the Steering Group undertaking the review of the Athena SWAN gender equality charter.