Dr Peter Briggs OBE

Master, Company of Educators, 2011-2012

Peter Briggs was born and brought up in Sheffield, roots which continue to be important for him.

After leaving grammar school there in the 1960s, he went to the very new University of Sussex from which he emerged six years later with a BSc in chemistry and a DPhil in theoretical chemistry. After post doctoral work for four years at the universities of Sheffield and Bristol, he realised that research was not his metier, and he changed tack completely.

For the next seven years he worked in non-formal education and advocacy within the UK on behalf of organisations concerned with international links and development - the overseas arm of the Methodist Church and Christian Aid.

In 1980 he joined the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA, now the British Science Association) to manage and expand its programme of educational activities for young people. This was followed by periods as Public Affairs Manager and Deputy Secretary before he became Chief Executive in 1990. In 22 years with the BA Peter helped to build up the organisation significantly in size, in the range of its activities and in its standing in the scientific community, the media and with the public.

In 2002, his career came full-circle when he became a Pro Vice-Chancellor of what is now Roehampton University and Principal of Southlands, one of its four colleges.

He retired in 2009 and spends much of his time in voluntary roles in education and in the Methodist Church. He received an honorary DSc from Leicester University in 2002 and was awarded the OBE for services to Higher Education in 2010.