63 Facts About Louise Richardson

Louise Richardson is married to Thomas Jevon, a physician based in Massachusetts.

From 1989 to 2001, Louise Richardson was as an assistant professor and then associate professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University.

Louise Richardson continued to work in numerous administrative capacities at Harvard, including the Faculty Council and various committees concerned with undergraduate education, the status of women, and human rights.

Louise Richardson's academic focus was on international security with an emphasis on terrorist movements in the 1990s.

Louise Richardson taught Harvard's large undergraduate lecture course, Terrorist Movements in International Relations, for which she won the Levenson Prize, awarded by the undergraduate student body to the best teachers at the university.

Louise Richardson received teaching awards from the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha for outstanding teaching in political science; the Abramson Award in recognition of her "excellence and sensitivity in teaching undergraduates" and many awards from the Bok Center for Teaching Excellence.

In July 2001, Louise Richardson was appointed executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Louise Richardson was instrumental in the transformation of Radcliffe, after it formally merged with Harvard University in 1999.

Louise Richardson helped turn the former women's college into an interdisciplinary center promoting scholarship across a wide range of academic fields and the creative arts.

Louise Richardson managed the budget, infrastructure, and staff, while overseeing a dramatic, multiyear renovation of three iconic buildings: the Schlesinger Library, the Radcliffe Gym, and Byerly Hall.

Louise Richardson continued to teach, both at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and to write extensively.

In 2006, Louise Richardson authored her first of several books, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, about the roots of terrorism and the Bush Administration's counterterrorism policies.

In 2009, Louise Richardson was appointed principal of the University of St Andrews, succeeding Brian Lang.

Louise Richardson is the first woman, as well as the first Roman Catholic in modern times, to occupy the position.

Louise Richardson was appointed professor of international relations at St Andrews in November 2010.

Unlike previous principals, Louise Richardson was not granted honorary membership to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which was all-male.

Louise Richardson spoke out about how the membership policies interfered with fundraising and the values of the university.

In 2009, Louise Richardson took another controversial stand by withdrawing official recognition of the Kate Kennedy Club.

Between 2011 and 2013, Louise Richardson oversaw a range of activities surrounding the 600-year anniversary.

Louise Richardson invited Scottish screen legend Sir Sean Connery to produce a film about St Andrews and then persuaded the actor to come out of retirement to appear in production.

In separate efforts, Louise Richardson raised private and government funds to allow St Andrews to purchase a former papermill in the nearby village of Guardbridge in 2010 and to convert it into a $35 million-dollar green energy center.

Louise Richardson raised more than $2 million to fund St Andrews's acquisition of a beloved local church in 2012.

Louise Richardson insisted universities should not be afraid to look abroad for support from legitimate donors and charities.

Louise Richardson focused on St Andrew's global brand and its ability to attract international students.

Louise Richardson prioritized increasing access among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In 2014, just before the referendum on Scottish independence, it was revealed that Louise Richardson had resisted pressure by then First Minister Alex Salmond to tone down her comments on the impact of Scottish independence on research universities, and resisted pressure from Salmond to issue a statement praising the SNP government.

In 2015, Louise Richardson again criticized the Scottish government, saying it was interfering with the running of higher education institutions and creating an excessive regulatory bureaucracy.

On 28 May 2015, the University of Oxford announced that Louise Richardson had been nominated as the next vice-chancellor, subject to approval, to take up the post on 1 January 2016.

The nomination was approved on 25 June 2015, and Louise Richardson became the university's first female vice-chancellor in January 2016.

Louise Richardson was an Honorary Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford.

In October 2017, Louise Richardson claimed that Oxford University was in need of reform, stating that the current system gives rise to "a waste of resources" and a "duplication of bureaucracy".

Louise Richardson's approach was to explore alternative sources of funding, including investments from the capital markets, public-private partnerships, and philanthropic support.

Louise Richardson opposed Brexit and the United Kingdom's break with the European Union due to concerns over missing out on billions of dollars in EU research funding and collaborations and the agreement's impact on students and staff.

In October 2020, Louise Richardson announced the launch of the Race Equality Task Force to address the under-representation of racial minorities at all levels within the university.

Louise Richardson was "admirably robust when threatened by the Chinese embassy with the withdrawal of Chinese students from Oxford unless she stopped its chancellor Chris Patten visiting Hong Kong", and was noted as having "more balls than any male [Vice-Chancellor]".

On Tuesday, 6 March 2018, Louise Richardson used a technicality to upend a debate on the plans.

At a meeting of Congregation, the governing body of Oxford, 20 members and supporters of Louise Richardson stood up as the resolution was introduced, thereby blocking the debate.

Louise Richardson herself stated that she had been absent from the event due to having "scheduled a trip to New York".

Louise Richardson's salary was criticised as excessive in 2017.

In September 2017, Louise Richardson attracted criticism from students, academics, politicians, and the British press for remarks made in defence of academic freedom that were interpreted by critics as a defence of academics holding anti-gay views towards students.

Louise Richardson was previously involved in debates around free speech and around attempts by university students to bar some speakers from campuses.

At the University of St Andrews, Louise Richardson encouraged academics to share their views on the independence referendum and in her first few months at Oxford University she voiced the view that higher education was not meant to be a comfortable experience and that students ought to engage with views they found objectionable.

In November 2021, it was announced that Louise Richardson would become the next president of Carnegie Corporation of New York in January 2023, at the end of her 7-year term as Oxford vice-chancellor.

Louise Richardson had been on the board of trustees since 2012.

In June 2023, Louise Richardson chaired the Irish Government's Consultative Forum on International Security Policy.

Louise Richardson has published many journal articles, book chapters, and reviews on the subject of terrorism.

Between 2001 and 2008, in addition to her teaching and management roles, Louise Richardson gave over 300 talks and lectures on terrorism and counter-terrorism to educational and private groups as well as policy makers, the military, intelligence, and business communities.

Louise Richardson has lectured on the subject of terrorism and counter-terrorism to public, professional, media and education groups across the world.

Louise Richardson has testified before the United States Senate and has appeared on CNN, the BBC Desert Island Discs, PBS NewsHour, NPR, Fox and a host of other broadcast outlets.

Louise Richardson's work has been featured in numerous international periodicals.

In 2009 Louise Richardson received the Trinity College Dublin Alumni Award.

Louise Richardson has been awarded numerous other prizes including Harvard's Sumner Prize in 1989 for her doctoral dissertation on the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace.

Louise Richardson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Birthday Honours for attracting more undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds to University of Oxford and to University of St Andrews, and for securing the partnership with AstraZeneca for the production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine developed at University of Oxford.

In 2013, Louise Richardson received an honorary doctorate from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

In 2017, Louise Richardson received an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh, and in 2018, she received an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame and spoke as the primary speaker at the Notre Dame Graduate School Commencement Ceremony.

In 2022, Louise Richardson received an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

In 2010 Louise Richardson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, In 2016, named an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy.

In 2017, Louise Richardson was elected member of the American Philosophical Society.

In 2014, Louise Richardson joined the board of trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation, and in 2019, she joined the board of The Sutton Trust.

Louise Richardson has been on the boards of a number of other non-profit groups including the Central European University, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the EastWest Institute.

Louise Richardson was on the editorial boards of a number of journals and presses, including the Oxford University Press.

In 2011 Louise Richardson was appointed to the Scottish Government's Council of Economic Advisers.

In 2023, Louise Richardson was named the independent chair of the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy in Ireland.