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Joan Stringer CBE - Principal & Vice Chancellor Napier University
Joan studied History & Politics before a career in Education. Her post at Napier, Edinburgh makes her the first woman to lead a Scottish University."Being encouraged to learn new things creates confidence & fosters creativity."
Napier University has a mix of modern and more traditional buildings that all have their own particular appeal. The oldest university building dates back to the sixteenth century and was home to the University's namesake John Napier, famous for inventing logarithms.
We have recently redeveloped our Craiglockhart campus resulting in a stunning purpose built business school that incorporates part of the original Victorian building with contemporary teaching space, the highlight of which is a futuristic 'egg' shaped lecture theatre.
Craiglockhart is also where the famous war poets, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, convalesced during the First World War.
To celebrate the poets' work and their time at Craiglockhart, we recently opened a permanent exhibition at which features examples of their works, audiovisual presentations, interactive displays and a historical timeline of Craiglockhart. The exhibition is open to the public and free to attend, to arrange a visit go to www.napier.ac.uk/warpoets.
What are you most proud of achieving?
The achievement which made most impact on the rest of my life was deciding to go, as a mature student, to Keele University to study Politics and History.
It was not common for people like myself, from a working class background, to go to university at that time and that achievement not only shaped my belief in the importance of education, it also laid the foundations for my academic career which eventually led me to achieve many other things including becoming the first woman to lead a Scottish University.
Higher Education benefits individuals in many different ways. Not only will it give you the skills and qualifications to enable you to have a career of your choice, it will also open up other opportunities and experiences that may not be readily available to you otherwise.
At Napier, our students have the opportunity to study alongside other learners from around the globe, travel abroad with their courses, join sport clubs, societies and associations and make lifelong friends.
Our close industry links means that many of our courses offer work placements both in Scotland and overseas. But most importantly, studying at Napier provides our students with the confidence and motivation to fulfil their own ambitions and reach their goals.
The most important qualities of a good leader are ambition, motivation and the ability to work with others to identify the barriers to progress and overcome them.
I aim to lead by example through working hard, treating colleagues and students with respect and fostering confidence, creativity and leadership skills in others at all times.
I would like Napier to be regarded as the best modern university in Scotland . That is our vision, and we will achieve it by building on our strengths, on our reputation for relevance, quality and equality of access for all who can benefit from higher education.
Students of all nationalities and backgrounds benefit from sharing experience of different cultures and traditions. At Napier we encourage our students - be they from Britain, Europe or overseas - to work together both in the classroom and through social and sporting activities in order to learn about new and different cultures and lifestyles.
These are all very important attributes, not just for Girl Guiding but for life in general. However, I feel being encouraged to learn new things creates confidence, which allows one to make informed decisions and fosters creativity. If you can master these attributes, everything else will fall into place - that is, of course, in addition to some good old-fashioned hard work.
I have been lucky enough to meet a number of inspirational students throughout my career. Most recently a nursing graduate who was diagnosed with mouth cancer whilst studying at Napier touched me.
Throughout her treatment and recovery she continued with her studies even though she underwent surgery which affected her speech and left her with a scar. By carrying on with her studies she didn't allow this life-threatening disease to affect her goal of becoming a health professional.
I was also very impressed that she used her experience to raise awareness of the condition and, in doing so, is helping others avoid contracting mouth cancer.
It is important to be determined to succeed in spite of the challenges, but I would also highlight the importance of women raising awareness of equality issues and directly influencing the organisations they work in for the better.
There has undoubtedly been great progress in gender equality since I started my working life and today's young women will never, for example, be confronted with a job advertisement showing different rates of pay for men and women. However, study after study shows that there continues to be discrimination in pay and promotion so there is still some way to go before we can say that equality has been achieved.
My husband and I enjoy attending the theatre and opera and, being based in Edinburgh, means I'm lucky enough to take advantage of the huge variety of shows and concerts throughout the year, as well as during the world famous Edinburgh Festival.
I'm also a keen cook, so making dinner for some friends and family followed by an evening at the theatre would be my idea of a perfect night out.
To find out more about Napier University please see www.napier.ac.uk
Go to main inspirational women page