Dame Shirley Pearce DBE

Biography

Dame Shirley Pearce DBE has held senior executive and non-executive roles in higher education, health and policing.

She was Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University from 2006 – 2012, where she delivered a new strategy for the university which saw a significant increase in turnover, closer working with industry partners and research success in the Research Excellence Framework alongside a top rated student experience.

Earlier in her academic career she held appointments at University College London (UCL) and the University of East Anglia (UEA) where she established a new medical school with an innovative curriculum and a focus on primary care and inter-professional learning. She is a clinical psychologist by profession and worked at St Mary’s Hospital London as well as Middlesex and UCLH.

In 2013 Shirley was appointed by the Home Secretary as the inaugural Chair of the College of Policing (the first professional body for policing) where she oversaw the introduction of the first Code of Ethics for policing based on the Nolan Principles. She was also a Board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Healthcare Commission and Health Education England. From 2016 to 2020 she was Chair of Governors of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She is currently a member of the Higher Education Quality Assurance Panel for the Ministry of Education in Singapore, a Trustee for the Royal Anniversary Trust, a member of the advisory board of HCA UK and a non executive director of the Unite Group plc.

In 2005, Shirley was awarded a CBE for services to education in the National Health Service and in 2014 was appointed DBE for services to Higher Education.