Karen O’Brien

Professor Karen O’Brien joined Durham University as vice-chancellor and warden in January 2022. As the chief executive, she has overall responsibility for the educational and research mission of England’s third oldest university, reporting to its Council of trustees. She has led the university through a significant period of strategy renewal, with a focus on key areas of research growth (particularly in the sciences), access and inclusion, financial sustainability, and sustainable development goals in both the region and the wider world. As VC, she engages extensively in national HE policy including as a member of the Russell Group Board. 

As a member of the senior team at the University of Oxford, O’Brien was head of the humanities division for five years. She delivered the vision for a new £150 million Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities including a new Institute for Ethics in AI. 

O’Brien spent most of her earlier career teaching and publishing research, and held academic posts at the universities of Warwick, Cardiff, and Cambridge. She has published widely on the literature and intellectual history of the Enlightenment. Her first book won the British Academy’s Rose Mary Crawshay prize. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and other media networks.