Innovation leader leaves University of East Anglia after nearly two decades
By: Communications
Professor Fiona Lettice, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, will leave the University of East Anglia this summer after nearly two decades at the institution.
Prof Lettice joined UEA in October 2005 as a Senior Lecturer within the Norwich Business School. She has served in a number of roles and became Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation in November 2016. In this role, she has been responsible for developing, communicating, and delivering the vision and strategy for all UEA’s research and innovation activity across the university and with key partners.
She led on UEA’s submission to REF21. REF, the Research Excellence Framework, is a process of expert review of research excellence, looking at the output, quality and impact of UK higher education institutions across academic subjects.
This resulted in the university’s highest ever outcome, being placed 20th overall – 13th for outputs and 16th for impact. In 2022, UEA entered the top 20 UK Universities for research excellence in the Times Higher Education’s (THE's) rankings and the University was named by THE as a world top 100 institution for research citations for 2023.
Fiona has led the development of UEA’s strategic themes – ClimateUEA, CreativeUEA and HealthUEA – to bring focus to key areas of interdisciplinary research and teaching.
Fiona also launched CivicUEA to lead the co-creation of a Civic University Agreement and provide a stronger framework and support for the many civic initiatives across UEA.
She said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the research and innovation community, both within and beyond UEA – it has been a real privilege to get to know and work with so many amazingly creative, dedicated and inspirational people and to help to support exciting projects and celebrate success.
“Thank you to all at UEA for the encouragement and friendship over the years – it has been appreciated and I will remember many happy and proud moments, fantastic and kind people, and fun and impactful projects. I am staying in Norwich and looking forward to building a part-time portfolio career after a short break.”
A dedicated ambassador for UEA locally, nationally and globally, she has played a key role in building reputation and strategic partnerships. These partnerships have enabled funding for a range of projects including the £7.5m Productivity East centre, the £9m Connecting Capabilities Fund and the UEA Enterprise Fund.
She is a co-organiser for SyncNorwich; Board Member for TechEast and the National Biofilms Innovation Centre. She is Chair of the Seafood Innovation Fund Steering Group, a Trustee Board Member for Quadram Institute Bioscience and the Research and Development Management Association (RADMA). She also serves on the New Anglia LEP Innovation Board and is a member of the Norwich 2040 City Vision Group. Nationally, she was a member of the Research England REF Institutional Environment Pilot Panel.
Prof David Maguire, UEA Vice-Chancellor, said: “Fiona has been an extremely dedicated member of both the University’s executive team and its wider community. Her passionate commitment to research and innovation has greatly benefited UEA and she has been a champion for a range of new and exciting initiatives.
“She has supported the University through difficult times, including the challenging years of Covid during which she worked to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our community.
“She will be missed and on behalf of all at UEA, I wish her well for the future.”
In recognition of her commitment, service, and significant contribution to UEA she wIll be conferred the position of Emerita Professor.
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