Baroness Ruth Deech to Speak at August 31st Faculty Workshop

Ruth Lynn Deech, Baroness Deech, Baroness of the British Empire is an academic and a Governor of the British Broadcasting Company.  She will be speaking at a Faculty Workshop on Thursday, August 31^st at noon in the Strong Commons Room in Bergin Hall.  The topic of the workshop is “New Bodies, Old Politics.”

Baroness Deech studied Law at St Anne’s College, Oxford, where she later returned to be a tutorial fellow in Law. She remained a tutorial fellow for twenty years, until she was elected Principal of the college. She remained a Principal until she retired in 2004. The college has since named its latest building after her; the Ruth Deech Building, the fourth to be named for a principal.

In addition to her work at St. Anne’s College, Baroness Deech served as Senior Proctor of the University of Oxford between 1985 and 1986, chair of the UK Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority from 1994 until 2002, and was appointed to a four year term as a Governor of the BBC in 2002, the same year that she was made a Baroness of the British Empire. In 1999, the Observer newspaper named her as the 107th most powerful person in Britain.

After leaving St. Anne’s College, Baroness Deech was appointed the first Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, dealing with the resolution of student complaints. Baroness Deech has been a member of the House of Lords since 2005. She remains actively involved in IAHE, and speaks and publishes on the subject of embryonic and stem cell research, and issues relating to family law.