Sally Mapstone

Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE (born 1957) is an academic and principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews.[1]

Dame Sally Mapstone
Principal of
the University of St Andrews
Assumed office
November 2016
Preceded byLouise Richardson
Personal details
BornMay 1957 (age 65)
Inverkeithing
SpouseMartin Griffiths
Alma materWadham College, Oxford
St Cross College, Oxford
ProfessionAcademic
WebsiteSally Mapstone - University of St Andrews

Early life and education

Sally Mapstone was born in 1957 in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England,[2] and grew up in West London. She read English language and literature at Wadham College, Oxford between 1975 and 1978, graduating with a first-class honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[3]

After graduating from Wadham in 1978, Mapstone became an editor with Weidenfeld and Nicolson publishers in London.[3] She was Mother of the Chapel of the National Union of Journalists at Weidenfeld. She then returned to the University of Oxford to undertake a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree at St Cross College.[2] Her doctoral thesis was titled 'The advice to princes tradition in Scottish literature, 1450-1500'.[4][5] She was awarded her DPhil in 1986.[2]

Academic career

In 1984, Mapstone was appointed lecturer in Medieval English language and literature at Worcester College, Oxford, and Randall MacIver Junior Research Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford.[6] At St Hilda's, she was lecturer in Medieval English language and literature, fellow and tutor in Medieval English language and literature, and Joanna Morse Memorial Fellow.

In 2006 she became reader in Older Scots literature in the university and was made professor of Older Scots literature in 2013. In the 2006-2007 academic year, she served as junior proctor of the university. She was appointed pro-vice-chancellor (personnel and equality) at Oxford in 2009[7] and, in 2011, became pro-vice-chancellor (education)[8] with responsibility for Oxford's strategy and policies for teaching, learning, student support, and admissions.

On 1 September 2016, Mapstone took up her position as the 11th principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews, and was formally installed in post on 29 November 2016.[9] In 2020, she accepted an invitation to extend her contract by five years to 2026.[10]

Leadership

Mapstone was deputy chair of the University of Oxford Council and its General Purposes Committee. She served as a member and chair on a broad range of Oxford committees and boards. From 2011 to 2013, she chaired the group responsible for revising the university’s strategic plan 2013 to 2018.

She took a strong interest in diversity issues at Oxford, and launched the university’s mentoring scheme for senior women, Ad Feminam, in 2012. In 2016, she was the organiser of a major series of lectures by 'Women of Achievement'.[11]

Mapstone served as the only British representative on the steering group for the pro-vice rectors for teaching and learning of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). She was lead author on an advice paper Online Learning at Research-Intensive Universities[12] published by LERU in 2014.

Since taking office at St Andrews, Mapstone has led on developing a new strategic plan for 2018-2023,[13] which launched in the autumn of 2018. She has taken forward the university’s plans for the acquisition of the Madras College site on South Street. She has overseen a review of the university’s processes for promotion, has launched a new university nursery, and has sponsored and launched a new mentoring scheme for senior academic women, the Elizabeth Garrett mentoring programme. She also led the university through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mapstone was elected vice-convener of Universities Scotland (US) in 2020 for a two-year term, following which she was elected convener for a two-year term that commenced in August 2022. She is also chair of Universities Scotland’s Admissions Policy Group.

She is a member of the board of Universities UK (UUK),[14] a member of the Advisory Board of the Higher Education Policy Institute,[15] chair of the international advisory board of the University of Helsinki,[16] and a trustee of the Europaeum.[17]

In June 2020, Mapstone discussed the Black Lives Matter movement in a weekly update to students. She wrote: “You are all part of one of the world’s great universities and are amongst the best and brightest minds of our times. You have resources and choices, intellect and opportunity, and the levers of change are closer to your hands than they are for millions of others. For the most part, you can breathe.” The comment, “For the most part, you can breathe” was criticised by some students and praised by others[18] in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.[19] An open letter to Mapstone in response to her comments and addressing wider diversity concerns at the university was signed by more than 2000 students.[20][21]

On 12 June 2020, Mapstone offered a public apology on behalf of the university for its past failures in supporting BAME students and staff,[22] the first Scottish Principal to do so.

On 21 November 2021, Mapstone wrote in an email to students about how she hopes that “trans rights will continue to be the subject of positive personal, academic and political discourse in society”. This was criticised by many students who said that trans rights should not be debated.[23] A motion in the Students' Representative Council for the University of St Andrews' Students' Association has since been passed “to condemn the recent rise in transphobic incidents and extend support to our trans and non-binary community”. [24]

In 2022, Mapstone worked with Saints LGBT+ to record a video welcome for new students at St Andrews in which she reaffirmed the university’s support for trans students.

In the video, Mapstone says: “At St Andrews it is our goal to make the University a safe and supportive one in which you can become the very best version of yourself, academically but also personally. That means realising who you are, being empowered to make the choices that are right for yourself, and having the confidence to be who you wish.

“At St Andrews we will make every effort to support you from day one.”

Research and professional interests

Mapstone's research is primarily on Older Scots literature, of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries (including literature in Latin) and on book history. She has also published on Chaucer and on Malory, and on Shakespeare. A number of her publications concern the identification of previously unrecognised textual witnesses to Older Scots texts. She also publishes on later Scottish writers.

Mapstone is past president and honorary president of the Scottish Text Society, a member of the advisory board of Studies in Scottish Literature, a member of the editorial board of Scottish Studies Review (to 2009) and an honorary fellow of the Project for the History of the Book in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh. She was elected a fellow of the English Association in 2013.

In May 2017, Mapstone became the first UK university leader to be honoured by the Foreign Policy Association, which presented her with a medal to recognise her leadership in international higher education, and made her an honorary fellow.

In 2017, she was made an emeritus fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, and an honorary fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and St Cross College, Oxford.[25]

In June 2018, she was appointed the first woman president of the Saltire Society[26] and in February 2019 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[27]

Mapstone was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen in 2019 for her contribution to the field of Older Scots literature and for her outstanding record of leadership in higher education and widening access.

Mapstone was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in June 2022 for services to higher education.

Books
  • Scots and their Books in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Oxford, 1996)
  • The Long Fifteenth Century: Essays for Douglas Gray, co-ed. with Helen Cooper (Oxford, 1997)
  • The Rose and the Thistle: Essays on the Culture of Late Medieval and Renaissance Scotland, co-ed. with Juliette Wood (East Linton, 1998)
  • A Palace in the Wild: Vernacular Culture and Humanism in Late Medieval and Renaissance Scotland, co-ed., with L. A. J. R. Houwen and A. A. MacDonald, (Leuven, 2000)
  • William Dunbar: 'The Nobill Poyet' (ed.) (East Linton, 2001)
  • The European Sun, co-ed, with G. Caie, R. J. Lyall, and K. Simpson (East Linton, 2001)
  • Older Scots Literature (ed.) (Edinburgh, 2005)

References
  1. "New Principal of St Andrews". University of St Andrews Press Office. St Andrews, UK. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. "Mapstone, Prof. Sally Louise, (born 1957), Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of St Andrews, since 2016". Who's Who 2021. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. "Professor Sally Mapstone FRSE - About". University of St Andrews. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. Mapstone, Sally (1986). The advice to princes tradition in Scottish literature, 1450-1500. E-Thesis Online Service (Ph.D). The British Library. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  5. "Professor Sally Mapstone". University of Oxford Council. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  6. Staff profile at St Hilda's College, Oxford Archived 24 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. University of Oxford Gazette, Supplement (2) to No. 4925, Wednesday 21 July 2010, p. 1324
  8. Blueprint University of Oxford staff magazine, January 2011, p. 4
  9. Installation Address: Professor Sally Mapstone
  10. "St Andrews Principal asked to extend contract | University of St Andrews news".
  11. Wadham College, Oxford news
  12. LERU Open Seminar on Online Learning, 6 February 2015
  13. University of St Andrews strategic plan 2018-23
  14. Universities UK Board
  15. Higher Education Policy Institute advisory board
  16. University of Helsinki board and the university collegium
  17. Europaeum trustee
  18. @frankstarjacob (5 June 2020). "2/2 Thank you for acknowledging and accepting responsibility in being "part of the establishment & structures which perpetuate discrimination". You've rightly pointed out "for the most, you can breathe" a privilege George never had. Lets create change through our actions" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. The Saint
  20. The Tab
  21. Open Letter to Principal Mapstone
  22. University of St Andrews
  23. "University Email Addressing TransFest Leads to Backlash". 24 November 2021.
  24. @standrewsunion (24 November 2021). "At Tuesday evening's meeting, the SRC passed a motion unanimously to condemn the recent rise in transphobic inciden…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. Honorary fellows, 'St Cross College, Oxford', Retrieved 22 August 2017
  26. Saltire Society appoints uni principal as first woman president, Retrieved 01 June 2018
  27. St Andrews academics honoured by society, Retrieved 13 March 2019
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