Professor Helen Driscoll

Professor Helen Driscoll is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) with Executive responsibility for the University’s academic portfolio, including the student experience, student outcomes and academic quality. This encompasses the University’s diverse portfolio, including our home campuses in Sunderland and London, our campus in Hong Kong, our extensive online provision, our UK partnerships, and our extensive transnational education portfolio with partners across the globe.

Professor Driscoll is the Executive Lead for the University’s Student Success Plan, the Teaching Excellence framework, and degree apprenticeships and skills. She chairs Academic Board and the Education Committee.

Before her appointment as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Driscoll held senior leadership roles at the University of Sunderland as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching) and as Academic Director for Educational Partnerships. She is also a Professor of Global Education.

Professor Driscoll grew up in County Durham and was a first-generation university student. She holds a BSc in Psychology from Newcastle University and a PhD in Psychology from Durham University. She held academic roles in Psychology at Durham University and Northumbria University before spending many years in the School of Psychology at the University of Sunderland, where she served as a Senior Lecturer, Principal Lecturer, and Acting Head of School.

Professor Driscoll specialises in evolutionary psychology, male psychology and personality. She is a Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is a member of the British Psychological Society’s Male Psychology Section Committee and a governor at East Durham College.

Internally, Professor Driscoll supports leadership development as Executive sponsor for the INSPIRE leadership programme. She is also an Aurora ‘Champion’ and an experienced mentor.