Staff news

2021 Chancellor’s winners

The University has honoured four staff members with Chancellor’s Awards for their teaching and research excellence and outstanding contribution.

Aziz Sheikh, Dave O’Brien, Lyndsay Wilkie and Tim Stratford are this year’s Chancellor’s Award winners and were congratulated by the Chancellor and the Lord Lieutenant and Rt. Hon. Lord Provost of Edinburgh, at a gala dinner held at the Palace of Holyrood House recently.

Established in 2003, the Chancellor’s Awards reward staff in four categories for teaching, research, outstanding contribution and showing great potential in early career teaching and/or research.

Revised category to include Professional Services staff

As we are approaching the 20 year anniversary of the awards we have reflected on the criteria and, as impact is at the centre of each award, the former Impact award criteria were expanded to enable all staff to be nominated.  The Award was also renamed ‘Outstanding Contribution’ to reflect its wider reach to include any staff group who would not previously have been considered under the research and teaching criteria.

Outstanding Contribution Award

Lyndsay Wilkie is Director of Business Development and Occupancy in Accommodation, Catering and Events (ACE), Corporate Services Group, and received the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution. Lyndsey is recognised for her commitment to ensuring that residents in the University’s catered and self-catered accommodation were well cared for throughout the pandemic, and also for her contribution to strategic decision making in ACE.

Research excellence

Professor Aziz Sheikh, Chair of Primary Care Research, Director of the Usher Institute and Dean for Data, is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Research in recognition of the way in which he has enhanced the University’s reputation through both his research, his inspiration and support of others’ research, alongside his recent tireless commitment to generating, analysing and utilising for policy purposes, the very best linked data for understanding Covid-19.

Rising star

Dr. Dave O’Brien is a Chancellor’s Fellow in the Cultural and Creative Industries based in Edinburgh College of Art, and received the Rising Star Chancellor’s Award. Dave is recognised for his significant contribution to research in Edinburgh College of Art in opening up the field of cultural policy and in introducing new methodological approaches to data.

Innovative teaching

Professor Tim Stratford, Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Engineering, received the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching in recognition of his leadership in transforming the School’s teaching and curriculum both prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic, and also for his personal, award-winning pioneering of new learning and teaching methods in structural engineering.

Related links

Chancellor’s Awards