22 Facts About Ursula Brennan

Dame Ursula Brennan was born on 28 October 1952 and is a retired British civil servant and a former Permanent Secretary at the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice where she was the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

Since 1975, Brennan has worked for myriad government agencies, including the Department of Health, the Department of Social Security, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ursula Brennan was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, and was educated at Putney High School in London.

Ursula Brennan attended the University of Kent in Canterbury, where she earned a degree in English and American Literature.

In 1975, Ursula Brennan began work with the Department of Health and Social Security.

Ursula Brennan worked several positions in the health division before joining the social security division, where she worked on disability benefits policy from 1990 to 1993.

Ursula Brennan moved into operations, becoming director of the department's IT Services Agency from 1993 to 1995.

Ursula Brennan was appointed director-general of the Department for Work and Pensions in 1999.

From 2004 to 2006, Ursula Brennan served as the director-general of the Living Land and Seas division at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ursula Brennan's responsibilities included leadership of the protection of wildlife and the countryside, and leadership of the division's strategy for rural disadvantage.

Ursula Brennan led the merging and creation of two new non-departmental public bodies, the restructuring delivery of grants and advice to rural business, and the implementation of a review of rural delivery.

In 2006 and 2007, Ursula Brennan was chief executive of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, a now defunct office that supported joint cooperation among the three criminal justice departments and criminal justice agencies.

Ursula Brennan led the review to create a new structure for the Ministry of Justice, where she worked from April to September 2008 as director-general of Corporate Performance.

In October 2008, Ursula Brennan joined the Ministry of Defence as Second Permanent Under-Secretary.

Ursula Brennan was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence in October 2010, replacing Sir William Jeffrey.

Ursula Brennan was principal accounting officer for the Department of Defence, and as such was accountable to Parliament for the efficient and effective use of department resources.

Ursula Brennan oversaw the 2011 investigation into the conduct of then Minister of Defence Liam Fox, who had allowed his friend Adam Werritty to join him on foreign missions, attend official diplomatic meetings and, despite having no security clearance, visit him repeatedly at the Ministry office.

Ursula Brennan replaced Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who left to become president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Ursula Brennan retired from the civil service at the end of July 2015.

Ursula Brennan was succeeded as Permanent Secretary by Richard Heaton.

Ursula Brennan served on the Honours Committee, a Cabinet Office committee that nominates citizens for the monarch's Birthday and New Year's Honours.

In 2011, Ursula Brennan earned an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from her alma mater.