A New President for New Hall

Monday 5th May 2008

Dr Jennifer Barnes

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We are delighted to announce that Dr Jennifer Barnes is elected as President of New Hall, and will be the first President of Murray Edwards College.

Dr Barnes has extensive experience in higher education, both in the public and private sectors, setting up programmes and international collaborations in the sciences, humanities, technology and the arts.

She originally studied English Literature at Smith College (one of the Seven Sisters colleges founded in the United States in the nineteenth century to educate women), followed by postgraduate training at the Benjamin Britten International Opera Centre, Royal College of Music. She gained her doctorate from the University of London, before becoming Associate Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, then Assistant Principal and Dean of Trinity College of Music.

In the 1990's she developed a neuroscience programme between the Royal College of Music, Imperial College and Manchester University to address the effects of performance pressure on musicians and dancers.

In 2005, she was appointed as the first Director of Global Education for BP, where she advised colleagues in over 25 countries on how to establish partnerships between business, governments and the university sector to support university programmes in the sciences. She continues to advise on governance, organisational culture, policy and strategy in organisations.

Dr Barnes is the author of several publications, including, Where are the Mothers in Opera and The Fall of Opera Commissioned for Television. She is a contributor to radio and television and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is married to the tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson, a Cambridge alumnus, and they have a son and a daughter.

Speaking of her appointment, Dr Barnes said: "I am honoured to contribute to this remarkable College. It was founded by, and for, inspiring women, and is sustained through the commitment of the Fellowship, the College staff and the alumnae, who have given of themselves, professionally and personally, to create an environment of energy and purpose."