Professor Heidi Macpherson

Role

Professor Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation in January 2011.

Biography

She received her BA (Summa Cum Laude) in English and Creative Writing from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. During her degree she had the opportunity to study abroad for a semester on the British Studies programme at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and has been a strong supporter of international education ever since. After graduating in 1990, she returned to the UK and became a dual national in 2003.  

Heidi received her PhD on contemporary North American women’s writing from the University of Newcastle in 1996 and began her academic career at the University of Central Lancashire, where she worked from 1995 to 2007. From June 2007-June 2010, she was Dean of Humanities at De Montfort University (DMU). She was seconded to the role of PVC Teaching, Learning and Student Experience from June-December 2010.

She has held a number of positions on national bodies, including executive membership on the Council for College and University English (CCUE), the British Association for Canadian Studies and the QAA UK Steering Group for Benchmarking.

She spent a decade on the British Association for American Studies executive committee, including terms as Secretary and Chair.

In 2007 Heidi was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce as well as the Higher Education Academy. She became a fellow of the English Association in 2010. She also holds an associate fellow position with the Institute for the Study of the Americas.

Heidi is also the author of Women’s Movement (2000), Courting Failure (2007), Transatlantic Women’s Literature (2008) and The Cambridge Introduction to Margaret Atwood (2010). She co-edited Transatlantic Studies (2000), New Perspectives in Transatlantic Studies (2002) and Britain and the Americas (2005).

In her spare time, Heidi enjoys hiking, reading, creative writing, and going to the cinema. She is also a keen amateur dramatist.

Research and publications|