Edinburgh Napier appoint new Principal

Professor Sue Rigby currently Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University has been appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University to succeed Professor Andrea Nolan.

The new incumbent will take up post in January 2025 when Professor Nolan, who has held the post for 11 years, retires.

The new Principal is a palaeontologist with a proven track record in her previous role in Bath where student numbers grew, turnover doubled and the university became financially sustainable with diversified income sources. Previously Professor Rigby was Deputy Vice Chancellor at University of Lincoln and held earlier positions at the universities of Cambridge, Leicester and Edinburgh, where she moved into senior management, first as Assistant Principal and then Vice Principal. She is also an HEA Principal Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

June Boyle, Chair of Edinburgh Napier University Court, said: “Professor Rigby is an outstanding appointment. Her breadth of experience, her values, and her commitment to quality higher education, widening access, inclusion and to an excellent student experience mean that she is the ideal person to take forward the ENU vision as a home of difference makers. We look forward to welcoming Sue at the beginning of the new year and I am confident that all at the University will enjoy working with her as we write the next chapter of the Edinburgh Napier story.”

Professor Rigby said: “’I am delighted to be joining Edinburgh Napier University. I have watched its progress with interest and huge respect over the past 10 years. It is a community of learners and leaders that I will be very proud to join, and I will do my best to make sure that it can continue to thrive and grow in all aspects of university life.”

Edinburgh Napier has just been named Higher Educational Institution of the Year at the Herald Higher Education Awards and top university in Edinburgh for student satisfaction for the fifth year in a row in the National Student Survey and top modern university in Scotland according to the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings.