St Hugh’s College, Oxford, is delighted to announce that Michele Acton will be its next Principal. She will take up the position in September 2025, when Lady Elish Angiolini LT DBE PC KC steps down.
Michele Acton is Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Medicine, a post that she has held since 2019. She leads an organization that provides multidisciplinary and specialist education to healthcare professionals around the world, is home to an academic library and a leading medical journal, as well as hosting international events and conferences. Her leadership at the RSM comes after 12 years as Chief Executive of Fight for Sight, which she helped transform into a leading national fundraising charity for medical research into eye health. Michele started her career in investment banking. She was educated in Lincolnshire and her native Derbyshire, primarily at state schools, and studied PPE at Trinity College, Oxford.
Michele Acton said, ‘I am delighted and honoured to have been elected as the next Principal of St Hugh’s College and to join a community that combines academic excellence with such a friendly, welcoming and inclusive environment. Reducing the barriers to an Oxford education was the principle upon which the College was founded and it is one I will work hard to uphold. I look forward to getting to know the students, academics, staff, and the wider college community of alumni and supporters. I relish the opportunity to support everyone in fulfilling their aspirations and to help shape the next chapter in the College’s development.’
The College’s Senior Fellow, Prof. Adrian Moore FBA, chaired the election process. He commented, ‘We are thrilled to have elected Michele Acton as our next Principal. Her successful leadership experience, her passion for education and research, and her combination of warmth and strategic vision are exactly the qualities that St Hugh’s needs as it looks towards the 150th anniversary of its foundation in 2036. We consulted people across the College community as part of the appointment process, and we all look forward to welcoming Michele when she takes up the Principalship later this year.’
The College’s current Principal, Lady Elish Angiolini KC, commented, ‘I am delighted that the College has elected Michele Acton as its next Principal. Michele is an outstanding leader in the charity and academic sector, and brings strong finance, strategic and fundraising experience to St Hugh’s. I wish her every success and happiness in the years ahead.’
Professor Moore added, ‘We are enormously grateful to Lady Elish for everything she has done for St Hugh’s, including helping to steer the College through the challenges of the pandemic. Under her guidance St Hugh’s has developed its academic excellence and its warmth and openness as a place to live and work. Elish has made friends wherever she has gone: we look forward to maintaining our own friendship with her, and we wish her well for the future.’
St Hugh’s College was founded in 1886 to provide an outstanding education for women, especially those who were otherwise excluded from Oxford. Fully mixed since 1986 and now one of the largest Colleges in Oxford, it retains its vision of providing excellent teaching and research for students and academics from around the world. Michele Acton will be the tenth Principal of St Hugh’s.
