Consultants
Full-Spectrum Leadership
Dame Nancy Rothwell
Senior Advisor
London UK
Get in TouchAs a Senior Advisor to WittKieffer’s Global Higher Education team, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell offers exceptional depth of knowledge, reach, and perspective across higher education and the broader research ecosystem. She is widely regarded across academia, industry, government, and the third sector as a trusted senior leader and one of the sector’s most influential voices.
Dame Nancy served as President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2010 to 2024, the first woman to lead the University or either of its two predecessor institutions. She is currently working alongside the recently appointed President & Vice-Chancellor Professor Duncan Ivison, as Campaign and External Relations Ambassador and Emeritus Professor.
Nancy is a member of the Councils of the Royal Society, Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK, a Board member of UK Biobank and the Singapore Global Health Advisory Board. She was recently appointed as a Member and Deputy Chair for the Government’s Industrial Strategy Council. Her research in the field of neuroscience has contributed towards major advances in the understanding and treatment of brain damage in stroke and head injury. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004 and made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005, in recognition of her services to science.
She was the founding President of the Royal Society of Biology and has also served as co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, Chair of the Russell Group, a member of the UK Investment Council, and as a non-executive director of AstraZeneca. She is currently a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester and a member of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Board and the Health Innovation Manchester Board. Nancy takes a strong and active interest in public communication of science and regularly gives talks to schools and the public and contributes to television, radio, and press.
Distinctions
President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester (2010-2024)
Chair, Russell Group (2020-2023)
Co-chair, Council for Science and Technology (2012-2013)
President, Royal Society of Biology (2009-2024)
Non-executive Director, AstraZeneca (2006-2015)
Member and Deputy Chair, UK Government Industrial Strategy Council
Trustee, Cancer Research UK
Education
Ph.D., Physiology, Queen Elizabeth College, London, UK
D.Sc., Physiology, King's College London, London, UK