New Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities Director announced

The Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) has announced the appointment of its new director.

Professor Claire Squires - Professor in Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling and Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication - took up the Director’s role today (Monday 6 January 2020).

Founded in 2014, SGSAH is the world’s first national graduate school for the arts humanities, and a hub for more than 1,000 postgraduate students. It is a partnership of 16 higher education institutions across Scotland and is led by the University of Glasgow.

Professor Claire Squires, Director of SGSAH

Professor Squires takes over the Director role from founding Dean/Director Professor Dee Heddon. Under the leadership of Professor Heddon, who is Deputy Head of the College of Arts and James Arnott Chair in Drama at the University of Glasgow, SGSAH has secured approximately £35 million of competitive funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the Scottish Funding Council.

Professor Squires said of her appointment: “I’m delighted to be joining SGSAH as Director, and I’m looking forward to providing leadership, advocacy and community-building for the School. Following the achievements of SGSAH’s first five years, I plan to sustain and grow our standing in national and international contexts, offer ambitious and concerted training and development opportunities for Scotland’s arts and humanities doctoral researchers, and further our collaborative relationships with partners from across Scotland and beyond.”

Professor Squires has engaged actively with SGSAH since its inception, serving in a range of capacities, including as Panel D Chair, which involves Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, Publishing, Media and Communication Studies. She brings to the role extensive experience of doctoral supervision and provision, partnership working, and organisational leadership.

Delighted

Professor Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh, co-Chair of SGSAH’s Governing Board, and Vice Principal and Head of the College of Arts at the University of Glasgow, said: “We are delighted that Professor Squires has been appointed as Director of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities. SGSAH has had a wide-ranging impact on the doctoral landscape in Scotland and we look forward to working with Professor Squires to build on its achievements, ensuring that SGSAH continues to be a flagship model for national-level support of and advocacy for doctoral research and researchers in the arts and humanities.

“I would also like to pay tribute to my colleague Professor Dee Heddon who founded SGSAH with the idea it would be a bridge builder across universities, industries, disciplines and sectors. Today SGSAH has harnessed these strong partnerships to ensure that we, in Scotland, can provide the very best training to the next generation of doctoral researchers to equip them to meet the complex global challenges that we face.”