Kathryn Richardson

Profile

Kathryn Richardson was appointed Director of the Queen Mary (University of London) Language Centre in 2012, became Professor of Language Education in 2013, and was appointed Director of the Queen Mary Confucius Institute at its foundation in 2015.

Working across Queen Mary, Kathryn’s role is to lead on programmes that prepare overseas and home students for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University. She acts as the main ambassador to these programmes, building the University’s reputation both internationally and in the UK. Her responsibilities include overseeing the design and teaching delivery, quality assurance, administration and direction of the programmes, as well as ensuring student satisfaction, achievement and intellectual engagement.

The Language Centre’s programmes are offered at all levels from doctoral to pre-undergraduate: PhD in Applied Linguistics, with a particular focus on institutional discourse; MA in English Language Teaching; MA in Language Teaching; Pre-Masters Graduate Diplomas in Humanities & Social Sciences; Pre-undergraduate Foundation Year, studied either as a standalone programme or integrated into a range of undergraduate degrees; Pre-Sessional summer programmes with pathways for Law, Science & Engineering, and Social Sciences; In-sessional English language and academic study skills modules to support students to academic success; and non-specialist language modules in Arabic, French, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, German, Italian and Spanish at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

As Director of the Confucius Institute, Kathryn works closely with Queen Mary’s partner universities in China to encourage educational and research collaborations across a range of disciplines. Part of the role of the Director is also to work with Queen Mary’s local community and schools to encourage an awareness of Chinese language and culture.

Kathryn serves on a number of committees at Queen Mary, including Global Strategy Committee, Global Engagement Committee, Transnational Education Working Group, School International Education Committee, Queen Mary Online sub-group, and Immigration and Compliance Working Group. Kathryn is, formerly, a founding member of the non-profit Paris-based association, Women Business Mentoring Initiative, (now Women Initiative Foundation), which promotes the advancement of women in business and in the economy, and which has supported more than 100 women entrepreneurs in scaling up their enterprises.

Prior to her appointment at Queen Mary, Kathryn was Principal Lecturer and Head of the Language Centre at Kingston University, and Lecturer in languages at Southampton University.

Kathryn is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She holds a professional doctorate in Higher Education Management, a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics for English Language Teaching, a DELTA, CELTA, PGCE and undergraduate degree in Politics and Sociology.

Research

Publications

Educational and professional qualifications

2017 DBA in Higher Education Management, University of Bath

2004 MA English Language Teaching, University of Southampton
1981 RSA Diploma in ELT, RSA International House
1980 RSA Certificate in ELT, RSA International House
1978 PGCE, University of Exeter
1977 BA Hons Politics and Sociology, University of Exeter

Professional experience (post-1990)

2009-2012 Principal Lecturer and Co-ordinator of English Language Development, Kingston University, responsible for Kingston's language centre
2006-2009 Principal Lecturer and Associate Co-ordinator of English Language Support, Kingston University, responsible for Kingston's language centre
2002-2006 Lecturer in EAP; Co-ordinator of in-sessional English language programme; Law Pre-Sessional Course Director; MBA Pre-Sessional Course Director, University of Southampton
1987-2002 Director of Studies, Business English Services, London