Dianne Willcocks Explained

Dianne Marie Willcocks CBE DL (born 5 May 1945)^[1] was the Vice-Chancellor of York St John University until retirement in April 2010 and is a former Deputy Principal of Sheffield Hallam University.

Biography

She received a Dip.M from Ealing College of Higher Education in 1966, and a BSc (Hons) in Human Sciences from the University of Surrey in 1976.

Willcocks worked as Director of Research at the University of North London.^[2] She moved from London to Sheffield as Assistant Principal of Sheffield Hallam University. In 1999 she became the first Principal of Rip and York St John College in 160 years.^[3]

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

After retirement, Willcocks has continued her work in gerontology as Chair of the Wilf Ward Family Trust, as a Patron of Older Citizens Advocacy, York, and has served as Health Champion for York’s Older Person’s Assembly.

Other appointments

Below are a selection of Dianne Willcocks' other appointments.

• Chair of Trustees, York Theatre Royal
• Chair, Action on Access Advisory Forum
• Member of Executive Board, GuildHE
• Board Member, Aimhigher National Partnership
• Board Member, Yorkshire Film Archive
• Deputy Lieutenant, North Yorkshire
• Trustee, York Museums Trust
• Trustee, Higher Education Academy^[4]
• Trustee, York Mediale.^[5]
• Deputy chair of the trustees of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation^[6]

Publications

• Peace, S., Kellaher, L., and Willcocks, D. 1982.A Balanced Life?. Survey Research Unit, The Polytechnic of North London.
• Willcocks, D., Peace, S. and Kellaher, L. 1986. Private lives in public places: a research-based critique of residential life in local authority old people's homes. London, Tavistock.
• Kellaher, L., Peace, S., and Willcocks, D. 1990. "Triangulating data". In: Peace, Sheila M. (ed.) Researching Social Gerontology: Concepts, Methods and Issues. London, Sage. 115–128.
• Peace, S., Kellaher, L., and Willcocks, D. 1997. Re-evaluating residential care. Buckingham, Open University Press.

References

1. Web site: Dianne Willcocks. Who's Who . 2008-07-08 .
2. Web site: Dianne Willcocks (Vice Chancellor) . 2008-06-14 . 14 June 2008 . York St John University . York St John University, York, UK . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061011053702/http://www2.yorksj.ac.uk/default.asp?Page_ID=517&Parent_ID=1091 . 11 October 2006.
3. Web site: Dianne Willcocks, Vice Chancellor, York St John University . HerStory.York . 9 March 2022.
4. Web site: HEFCE Board Member Biography and registered interests: Dianne Willcocks. https://web.archive.org/web/20080919121539/http://www.hefce.ac.uk/aboutus/board/bio/willcocks.asp . 2008-09-19. 2008-06-14 . 14 June 2008 . Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) . Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Bristol, UK.
5. Web site: YORK MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL CIO . Charities Commission . 8 December 2020.
6. Web site: Joseph Rowntree Foundation page. 2013-06-23.

Further reading

• News: Professor Dianne Willcocks, Vice-Chancellor of York St John University became the first woman ever to receive The Press’s Lifetime Achievement Award . 27 November 2009 . York Press . Newsquest . 28 November 2012.