Research England Council member
Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan is a member of Research England’s Council.
Cathy is the University Provost at Ulster University. She has worked in Higher Education for 26 years, having served previously as Deputy-Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Impact) and Research Institute Director.
She is also a Professor of Politics with research interests in political elites, peace processes, the politics of divided societies, public policy and governance and in 2021 was appointed by the Minister for Finance (NI) as a fiscal commissioner in the Independent Fiscal Commission for Northern Ireland to consider the case for increasing fiscal powers available to the NI Assembly.
As a qualified Chartered Director, Cathy has extensive non-executive and board experience having served as either a Trustee, Director, Board Member or Advisor on a wide range of external bodies and organisations including DLUCH’s Levelling Up Advisory Council; UKRI’s Research England; Innovation Ulster Ltd; Catalyst Inc; Matrix – the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel; Health Innovation Research Alliance (HIRANI); Northern Ireland Science Park Holdings; the National Executive Committee of the UK’s Political Studies Association (PSA); Universities UK’s International Research Development Network; and the UK government’s BEIS advisory body on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation.
She was awarded an OBE in 2020 for services to higher education in Northern Ireland and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Period of appointment: April 2021 to March 2024.
Last updated: 1 September 2023