Dr Wendy Piatt to stand down after 10 years as Director General

30 December 2016

The Russell Group is to seek a new Director General following a decision by Dr Wendy Piatt to stand down in February 2017 after 10 years as Director General and Chief Executive of the organisation representing 24 leading UK universities.

Dr Piatt, who has led the Russell Group since its formation in 2007, developed and implemented a highly successful strategy to represent the interests of the country’s leading research-intensive universities, engaging with Government, business and education groups in Britain and around the world.

Director General of the Russell Group Dr Wendy Piatt said: “Having established and steered the Russell Group over the past 10 years as a highly effective representative body for 24 of the UK’s top universities, I have told the Board that I wish to explore new challenges in 2017. This milestone is an appropriate time to move on, and I am confident my successor will inherit an organisation which is synonymous with the very highest standards in research, teaching and innovation."

Professor Sir David Greenaway, Chair of the Russell Group and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, said: “I would like to thank Dr Piatt for her leadership skills, hard work and commitment in first of all establishing the Russell Group as an incorporated organisation in 2007, and in making the Group an internationally recognised advocate of all that is best about UK higher education, research and innovation in the years since then. She has significantly raised the profile and influence of our leading universities and has played a key role in shaping the strategies and policies that have made UK universities admired around the world."

The Board of the Russell Group will begin a search for a new Director General to succeed Dr Piatt, who will stand down on February 1, 2017. An announcement on her successor will be made in due course.

Ends