The UK has gained its first-ever Black female university leader in the form of Baroness Valerie Amos, who will be taking charge SOAS (School of Oriental Studies), University of London from September.
The new leader, who hails the school’s “vast repository of knowledge and expertise on its specialist regions,” said: “SOAS is uniquely placed to inform and shape current thinking about the religious, political, cultural, security and economic challenges of our world.”
Born in Guyana, the Baroness was educated at Bexley Technical High School for Girls (now Townley Grammar School) in south-east London.
She went on to earn a BA in Sociology from the University of Warwick and an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Birmingham.
She also undertook cultural studies at the University of East Anglia where she investigated the transition from school to work for black girls.
As an advocate of higher education, Baroness Amos is co-founder and Patron of the Amos Bursary which promotes higher education opportunities for young men of African and Caribbean heritage in the UK.
Since it was founded in 1916, it has forged a global reputation for research and teaching with a focus on the three places as mentioned by Baroness Amos.
Baroness Amos will be replacing Professor Paul Webley who is retiring from SOAS due to ill health.
