Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE joined the University of St Andrews as Principal and Vice-Chancellor in 2016. She had previously served since 2009 as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Personnel and Equality and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Oxford.
As Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, Professor Dame Sally Mapstone directs the University’s Strategy and is responsible for the University’s operations. She is also Convener of Universities Scotland, a board member of Universities UK, a trustee of UCAS and of the Europaeum, and Vice-Chair of the Board of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. Dame Sally maintains a strong interest in issues both of access and diversity within the higher education sector.
Sally gained her BA and D.Phil. at Oxford, was a Fellow of St Hilda’s College (of which she is now an Emeritus Fellow) and Professor of Older Scots Literature in the Faculty of English Language and Literature. She is an expert on the literature of Scotland before 1707, and has published widely on literature both in Scots and in Latin, on political literature and on book history. Earlier in her career she worked as an editor in the book publishing industry. She is Honorary President of the Scottish Text Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies. She is President of the Saltire Society, which champions Scottish culture.
Dame Sally was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022 for services to higher education.
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone is the current President of Universities UK (UUK).