12 Facts About Alison Richard

Alison Richard was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the third Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the post became full-time, and the second woman.

Alison Richard attended the Queenswood School and was an undergraduate in Anthropology at Newnham College, Cambridge, before gaining a PhD from King's College London in 1973 with a thesis titled Social organization and ecology of propithecus verreaux grandidier.

Alison Richard was named Professor of Anthropology in 1986 and chaired the Department of Anthropology at Yale from 1986 to 1990.

From 2003 to 2010, Alison Richard was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Alison Richard launched and completed a billion-pound fund-raising campaign, the largest ever for a UK university.

Alison Richard is currently a member of the Boards of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and of WWF International.

Alison Richard is chairman of the advisory board of the executive search firm Perrett Laver.

Alison Richard was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

Alison Richard has received honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, China, Madagascar, Canada, Korea and the US, and in 2011 she was made a Fellow of King's College, London.

Alison Richard was awarded the Green Globe Award of the Rainforest Alliance, and the Verrill Medal, Yale University.

Alison Richard was made Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Cambridgeshire in 2004.

Alison Richard is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish, Newnham and Wolfson Colleges, University of Cambridge.