Social Sciences welcomes new members to Leadership team
The Division is delighted to welcome Dr Susan James Relly, Professor Margaret Stevens, and Professor Heather Viles to the Divisional leadership team.
Dr Susan James Relly, from the Department of Education, joins us this term as Associate Head (Education). Working with Dr Paul Martin, Susan will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of Social Sciences educational provision; from admissions and access, to teaching, learning, and assessment policy. Susan’s entire career has been in education in various forms, having taught in secondary schools in Australia and England prior to her academic career. She completed a B.Ed in her native Queensland, Australia, and read for a M.Sc in Comparative and International Education and a D.Phil in Education at the University of Oxford. Susan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education and the Director of SKOPE. She is a Governing Body Fellow at Green Templeton College.
Professor Margaret Stevens, from the Department of Economics, has been appointed to the new position of Associate Head (Personnel & Equality). This position provides strategic leadership in the employment of the Division's academic and research staff, to articulate a strategy that supports the recruitment and retention of an outstanding and diverse academic community, helps to develop the next generation of social scientists, and promotes diversity. A Professor of Economics and Senior Research Fellow of Lincoln College, Margaret has worked at the University since 1993, teaching microeconomics, labour economics, and public economics. Her main research focus is labour economics and education, particularly vocational training. She was the Tutorial Fellow in Economics at Lincoln College (2000-2016), and earlier at Trinity College. Margaret is also involved in CORE: an international collaboration of university economists developing a new introductory economics curriculum for undergraduates.
From 1 September, Professor Heather Viles of the School of Geography and the Environment will take on the role of Associate Head (Research): providing strategic leadership for all aspects of research, impact and engagement in Social Sciences. Responding to a highly changeable environment, she will lead the Division’s approach to maximising the quality and success of research funding and optimising the potential impact of our research through effective engagement with a wide range of partners. Professor of Biogeomorphology and Heritage Conservation, Heather has served as Director of Research (2012-2015) and then Head of the School of Geography and the Environment (2015-2019), as well as Vice Provost of Worcester College (2012-2014). She is now President of the British Society for Geomorphology and leads the Oxford University Heritage Network.
