Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark

The Right Honourable The Baroness Perry of Southwark
Member of the House of Lords
In office 16 July 1991 – 26 May 2016
Personal details
Born	Pauline Welch (1931-10-15) 15 October 1931 (age 89)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Party[1]
Spouse(s)	George Walter Perry ​ (m. 1952)​
Occupation	Politician, University President
President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge
In office 1994–2001
Preceded by	Dame Anne Warburton
Succeeded by	Dame Veronica Sutherland

Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark (née Welch; born 15 October 1931) is an educator, educationist, academic, and activist. She is a Conservative politician and was a member of the British House of Lords. In 1981 she became Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England. In 1986 she became Vice-Chancellor of South Bank Polytechnic, and serving during its transition to a university, became the first woman in history to run a British university.^[2]

Early life[]

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Perry was educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School and Girton College, Cambridge. In 1952 she married Oxford University lecturer George Perry, and had three sons and a daughter (Christopher, Timothy, Simon and Hilary). She became a teacher and philosophy lecturer, working in England, Canada and the USA.

Career[]

In 1970, Perry joined HM Inspectorate at the Department of Education and Science, and was appointed Chief Inspector in 1981. In 1986 she became Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of South Bank Polytechnic, and serving during its transition to a university became the first woman in history to run a British university. She subsequently held other roles in higher education. In 1994 she was elected President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.^[3] and severed as Head of House for 7 years until 2001. She subsequently held other roles including pro-chancellor of the University of Surrey 2001-2005, Chair of Governors at Roehampton Institute 2001-2005 (which was granted university status in 2003).

In 1986, she collaborated with John Cassels and James Prior to create the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), which would become the National Centre for Universities and Business in 2013.^{[citation needed]}

She has also been active in the Southwark Cathedral and Church of England community and the City of London. She was appointed by General Synod as chair of the review group examining the operation of the Crown Appointment Commission, the body which nominates Diocesan Bishops. The Perry Report "Working With The Spirit", was published in May 2001 and led to more transparent selection procedures for the appointment of Anglican Bishops.^[4]

Perry was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 1991.^{[citation needed]} She was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2003-05), and chaired the Working Party on the Ethics of research involving animals.^[5] She has also served as Chair of the Commission on Secondary Reorganisation for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; Chair of the Commission on Academies and Free Schools in the London Borough of Wandsworth; Co-chair of The Conservatives Public Services Commission, which reported in 2007; and Chair of the Governing Body of Kaplan College and Law School, in 2013.^[6]

UK Parliament[]

On 16 July 1991, she became a life peer as The Right Honourable Baroness Perry of Southwark, of Charlbury in the County of Oxfordshire.^[7] She sits on the Conservative Party benches. She was appointed a Conservative Party Whip in the Lords in January 2011.^{[citation needed]} She retired from the Lords on 26 May 2016.^[8]

Parliamentary Committees[]

• Hybrid Instruments Committee (L) Lords 2014-
• Sub-Committee I (Higher education in STEM subjects) Lords 2011-12
• Sub-Committee I Lords 2010-11
• Science and Technology Committee (L) Lords 2009-14
• Liaison Committee (L) Lords 2007-12
• EU Sub-Committee G - Social Policies and Consumer Protection Lords 2007-09
• Sub-Committee I Lords 2005-07
• Select Committee on Science and Technology Sub-Committee 2 Lords 2004-09
• Science and Technology Committee (L) Lords 2003-07
• Committee On Religious Offences Lords 2002-03
• Ecclesiastical Committee (Joint Committee) Lords 2002-
• Human Rights (Joint Committee) Lords 2001-03
• Relations between Central and Local Government, Committee on Lords 1995-96
• Sub-Committee I Lords 1993-95
• Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (L) Lords 1993-98
• Science and Technology Committee (L) Lords 1992-95^[9]

Appointments[]

• President, Council for Independent Education (CIFE) (2000-13)
• President, Foundation for Higher Education (2002-06)
• President, Westminster & City Branch of Chartered Management Institute (2000-14)
• Chair of City and Guilds Quality and Standards Committee (2005-10)
• Governor of Gresham's School, Holt (2000-06)
• Chair of Governors and Trustee of Roehampton Institute, University of Surrey (2001-2006)
• Pro-Chancellor and Member of Council, University of Surrey (2001-06)
• Trustee, Bacon's City Technology College (1991-99)
• Trustee, Cambridge University Foundation (1997-2006)
• Trustee, Daphne Jackson Memorial Trust
• Companion of the Institute of Management
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Bakers (1992)
• Freeman of the City of London (1992)
• Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (2006)
• Political Editorial Advisor at i-MAGAZINE
• Member of Flooved advisory board
• Member of the Institute of Directors
• Member of the International Women's Forum
• Patron, Women's Engineering Society^[10]

Honorary Doctorates and Fellowships[]

The Rt Hon Baroness Perry of Southwark has been awarded the following academic honorary doctorates and fellowships by university's world wide for her work.

Doctorates[]

• Bath LL.D 1991 ^[11]
• Sussex D. Litt 1992
• Aberdeen LL.D 1994
• LSBU LLD 1994 ^[12]
• Wolverhampton ED.D 1994
• Surrey D.Univ 1995 ^[13]
• City D.Litt 2000
• Mercy College, New York. D.Ed 2014 ^[14]

Fellowships[]

• Girton College, Cambridge ^[15]
• Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge ^[16]
• London South Bank University (1994) ^[17]
• Roehampton University ^[18]
• City and Guilds of London ^[19]
• College of Preceptors

Companion of the Institute of Management[]

• Hon. Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
• Freeman of the City of London

Arms[]

Coat of arms of Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark hide

Escutcheon Sable, in dexter chief a sun in splendour issuant and in base a pear slipped and leaved Gold (Perry), on an inescutcheon of pretence Argent, a cross of lozenges, in the first quarter a crescent enclosing a quaver and in the fourth quarter a cinquefoil Gules (Welch). Supporters Dexter, a marmalade tom cat proper; sinister, upon a pile of three books, the spines visible bound Gules, the pages edged Gold, a Persian cat Sable, the nose, breast and feet Argent, each supporting between the forepaws a quill argent penned or. Motto Ancilla Domini [20]

References[]

Sources[]

• House of Lords Register of Interests: Baroness Perry of Southwark, parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk; accessed 1 April 2016.

Academic offices
Preceded by ?	Vice-Chancellor of South Bank Polytechnic / South Bank University 1986–1993	Succeeded by Gerald Bernbaum
Preceded by Dame Anne Warburton	President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge 1994–2001	Succeeded by Dame Veronica Sutherland