University of Stirling appoints a new Deputy Principal

The University of Stirling has appointed Professor Kirstie Blair as Deputy Principal (Academic).

Currently the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Professor Blair will take up the new role on July 1, assuming responsibility for shaping and overseeing academic policies, resources, strategies, and initiatives.

Reporting directly to the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Blair will have oversight of the effective delivery of the University vision and strategy and will lead and manage the team of Deans, while playing a full and key part in shaping the overall strategic direction of the University.

Leadership qualities

Professor Sir Gerry McCormac, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling, said: “Professor Kirstie Blair has demonstrated the strategic thinking and leadership qualities that will strengthen our position as an exceptional centre of education and research as we implement the new Strategic Plan 2030.

“Professor Blair rightly commands huge respect in her field, and I look forward to working together to deliver our strategic priorities alongside an outstanding senior leadership team.”

Professor Blair holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Cambridge, and MPhil and DPhil degrees from the University of Oxford. She additionally studied at Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar.

Professor Blair was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in August 2022, arriving from the University of Strathclyde where she was a Chair in English Studies and Head of the School of Humanities from August 2017 to August 2020. 

She previously held an Established Chair in the Division of Literature and Languages at Stirling, before which she was a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Glasgow, from 2005 to 2012.

Professor Blair

Professor Blair said: “It has been a pleasure to lead the Faculty of Arts and Humanities since 2022, and I’m excited to move into this wider role and work more closely with our excellent Senior Leadership Team, and our Deans of Faculty, to develop and deliver the University vision and strategy.”

Professor Blair’s research interests lie in the fields of Victorian studies and Scottish studies: she has published extensively on Victorian poetry, literature and religion, literature and medicine, newspaper and periodical history, and working-class history, literature and culture.

Professor Blair was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021, and in 2024 the Prime Minister approved her appointment as a Trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust, which administers monies raised in the UK as a tribute to the late President John Kennedy.

Her book, Working Verse in Victorian Scotland: Poetry, Press, Community, won the Saltire Society Book of the Year and Research Book of the Year awards in 2019.