Professor Louise Richardson is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. In January 2016, she moved from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, where she served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor for seven years.

A political scientist by training, Professor Richardson received a BA in History from Trinity College Dublin in her native Ireland. She then studied in the USA, graduating with an MA in Political Science from UCLA, and subsequently an MA and PhD in Government from Harvard University.

Professor Richardson’s research specialises in international security with a particular emphasis on terrorist movements. She has written widely on international terrorism, British foreign and defence policy, security institutions, and international relations.

Richardson’s work has been widely recognised through the awarding of prizes such as the Sumner Prize for work towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace and with Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal. She also holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews in Scotland; Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Russia; the University of the West Indies; and Notre Dame University in the United States.

The Vice-Chancellor currently serves as a trustee on a number of non-profit groups, including the Laidlaw Foundation. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom, an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.