| Dr Louise Richardson | |
| Principal and |
|
|---|---|
| Term | 2009 – Present |
| Predecessor | Brian Lang |
| Born | 1958 County Waterford, Ireland |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin; University of California, Los Angeles; Harvard University |
| Profession | Political scientist |
| Religion | Catholic |
Louise Richardson (born 1958 in County Waterford, Ireland) is a political scientist, and Principal and
Richardson received a bachelor's degree in history after a period of study at Trinity College, Dublin. Subsequently, she earned master's degrees in history from Trinity College, Dublin. She also holds a master's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. Richardson came to Harvard in 1981 as a graduate student and received her Ph.D. in 1989. She was awarded the Sumner Prize for the best doctoral dissertation "dealing with any means or measures tending towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace." . From 1989 to 2001, she was assistant professor and then associate professor of government at Harvard, specializing in international security. For eight years, Richardson was head tutor (director of undergraduate studies) of the Harvard Government Department. She served in numerous other administrative capacities at Harvard University, including the Faculty Council and various committees concerning such issues as undergraduate education, the status of women, and human rights. In July 2001, Richardson was appointed executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Richardson's academic focus has been on international security with an emphasis on terrorist movements. For several years, she taught Harvard's large undergraduate lecture course, Terrorist Movements in International Relations. For this, she won the Levenson Prize, awarded by the undergraduate student body to the best teachers at the University. This class, along with a number of graduate courses on terrorist movements and European terrorism, were for many years the only ones offered on the subject at Harvard. Louise Richardson is the author of "What Terrorists Want", which has become the internationally-renowned 'textbook' on the study of terrorism.
On 3 June 2008, it was announced that she had been appointed Principal of the University of St. Andrews, succeeding Brian Lang with effect from January 2009. This appointment will likely ensure Richardson's place at the head of St Andrews during its upcoming 600 year anniversary in 2013. Installed in March, 2009, she is the first woman and the first Roman Catholic in modern times to fill the position.[1]
External links and further reading
Notes
- ^ "In Scotland, New Leadership Crumbles Old Barrier" article by Raymond Bonner in The New York Times March 27, 2009
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