Professor Louise Richardson
Richardson is set to be
appointed as fi rst female vicechancellor
of Oxford University
in its 786-year history
The post carries one of the
largest salaries in higher education
in the UK, with a pay
package of £434,000 in 2013.
The 56-year-old political
scientist, a former pupil of the
Ursuline Secondary School in
Waterford, has been principal
and vice-chancellor of the
University of St Andrews in
Scotland since 2009.
Ms Richardson is also internationally-
renowned for her
expertise in terrorism.
One of seven children to
Arthur and Julie Richardson,
she grew up in Priest’s Road,
Tramore, where her family still
live.
Her interest in politics began
at an early age and as a teenager
in the 1970’s was fascinated
by the unfolding Troubles
in Northern Ireland.
Prof Richardson pursued
a degree in history at Trinity
College and pursued an MA in
Political Science at the University
of California, Los Angeles
and an MA and PhD in Government
at Harvard. Prior to
joining St Andrews, Professor
Richardson lived and worked
in the United States where
she was Executive Dean of
the Radcliffe Institute for
Advanced Study at Harvard
University.
Among her publications are
‘What Terrorists Want: Understanding
the Enemy, Containing
the Threat’ ( 2006) and
‘When Allies Differ: Anglo-
American Relations in the
Suez and Falkland Crises’
(1996). Ms Richardson is
married to Mr Thomas Jevon
and has three children.
She will speak in Waterford
on the last Monday in September,
as a guest of Eamon McEneaney
of Waterford Museum
of Treasures in City Hall,
Waterford.
