Honorary Doctorate awarded to Wales’ first female Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julie Lydon DBE

Academic Leader and former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Julie Lydon DBE has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of South Wales (USW).

Born in Mid Wales, Dame Lydon is a key figure in the history of USW. She served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan before becoming the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Wales, following its formation in 2013. She was also the first female Vice-Chancellor in Wales and was elected by her fellow Vice Chancellors as UUK Vice President Wales and Chair of Universities Wales.

Dame Lydon was the first in her family to enter higher education and has since earned a strong reputation of academic leadership, having been Assistant Vice-Chancellor at UWE Bristol and Associate Dean of the Business School at the University of Wolverhampton before joining the University of Glamorgan’s executive team in 2006. Having dedicated the majority of her working life to higher education, Dame Lydon retired in 2021. She continues to support higher education through her non-executive positions on the Board of Governors for Southampton Solent University and on the University of West of England. She is also Trustee and Deputy Chair of the Board of the Nelson Trust which is a charity bringing belief, hope, and long-term recovery to lives affected by addiction and multiple disadvantages.

Dame Lydon was awarded a Damehood in the Queen's New Year's Honours in 2022 for her services to higher education.

In 2023, she was appointed by the Minister of Education and Welsh Language as the first Chair of the new Commission for Tertiary Education and Research; this groundbreaking development sees Wales being only the second country in the world to bring together the funding, regulation, and oversight of all post 16 education.

Dame Lydon was presented with the honour at Newport’s International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) on Friday 26 January.

Dame Lydon said: “I am very honoured to receive this award from a University that can rightly be very proud of its positive impact on lives, communities, and society.”