An announcement from our Vice-Chancellor

 News 

Professor Sue Rigby to stand down as Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University

Professor Sue Rigby has announced plans for her departure as Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University at the end of this calendar year after seven years in the role. Professor Rigby will take up a new position as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, from 1 January 2025.

BSU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Georgina Andrews will act as Interim Vice-Chancellor when Professor Rigby leaves on 31 December 2024.

Since joining the University in January 2018, Professor Rigby has led the transformation of BSU into an innovative, confident and forward-looking university and has successfully increased BSU’s distinctiveness and position locally, regionally, nationally and globally. 

Under her leadership, Bath Spa has grown its student numbers, doubled its turnover and become financially sustainable with diversified income streams. The last years have seen its best ever REF return and a steady improvement in NSS. Key initiatives delivered through the University’s recent strategy include the opening of the Locksbrook campus in 2019, the launch of Bath Spa University London and the National Centre for Fashion and Sustainability, the award of a Social Enterprise Gold Mark, a brand refresh which embeds the Professionally Creative ethos across the entire University and BSU becoming an Adobe Creative Campus.

In the last seven years, the University has received numerous awards and honours, including The Sunday Times University of the Year for Social Inclusion 2024 and a First-Class People and Planet award which recognises BSU’s commitment to sustainability. 

Professor Rigby also steered the University through the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic while taking necessary steps to address sector-wide financial challenges and ensure its future sustainability.

Professor Sue Rigby said:

“I am so sorry to be leaving Bath Spa after the last seven years, but it is the right time for me to go, and the right destination for me to move on to, where I can take on a major new challenge, walk to work and see more of my family.

“The University has a first-rate senior team, who will guide it after I leave, led by Professor Georgina Andrews, who is highly capable and has been the agent of our success for several years already.

“I will always look at Bath Spa with huge pride and will miss many of you as friends as well as colleagues and students. Thank you for making this such a rewarding time for me, and for all the contributions you have made to the success of the organisation whilst I have been leading it. We are an exceptional university, with a track record of resilience and a growing confidence in all aspects of our work. We are financially secure, academically curious, certain of our identity and increasingly valued regionally and nationally.”

The Chair of BSU Board of Governors, Jonathan Glasspool, said:

"On behalf of the University’s Board of Governors I’d like to thank Sue for her exceptional leadership of the University through what has been an incredibly challenging period for the sector. She has our deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks. Her creativity, hard work and determination have been critical in both launching key new initiatives and supporting staff and students through periods of significant change.

“Sue’s work has culminated in leading a strategic review of our size, shape and ambition for the future, captured in our Strategy 2030. It draws on our strengths, creates a clear mission for the next phase of the University’s life, and has won the support of key internal and external stakeholders. We will now be looking for the next person to take BSU forward, continuing to build on this incredible work and strategy, while ensuring we meet what students and industry are looking for from universities in the future.”

Alongside her role at BSU, Professor Rigby has fulfilled several roles externally, including as Chair of Student Minds and a Board Member for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She leads on culture for the West of England Combined Authority and is chair of two significant arts venues, one in Bristol and one on the Isle of Mull.

A competitive recruitment process will now take place to appoint the University’s next Vice-Chancellor. In the meantime, the Board of Governors has appointed the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Georgina Andrews as Interim Vice-Chancellor when Professor Rigby leaves on 31 December 2024 until 31 July 2025.

A message from Professor Sue Rigby: