Tessa Harrison

Tessa’s 30-year career in higher education senior leadership and management saw her working in five universities ranged across the sector mission groups.

She held department and faculty roles at Anglia Polytechnic University before joining Lancaster University in a central university role. She was the Academic Registrar & Clerk to the Board of Governors at the University of the West of England, the Registrar of the University of Southampton and most recently, the Executive Director of Education & Students at King’s College London.

Until August 2016, Tessa was the Chair of the Association of University Administrators (AUA) following several years as a Trustee on the AUA Board. She also served as an appointed member of the Board of the Leadership Foundation for HE.

Interesting Fact
Tessa is regularly invited to speak about her experiences of being a senior female leader in higher education and in 2019 she was shortlisted for a WonkHE new voices award for an opinion piece about rebuilding trust through effective academic governance.