Karen O'Brien explained

Karen O'Brien
Order:	25th
Office:	Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University
Term Start:	January 2022
Salary:	£353,000 (2022–23)^[1]

Karen Elisabeth O'Brien is a British academic administrator and scholar of English literature, specialising in the Enlightenment and eighteenth-century literature.^[2] Since 2022, she has been Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University^[3] (the first woman to hold the office), having previously been Professor of English Literature and Head of the Humanities Division, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of University College, Oxford.^{[4] [5]}

Prior to her time at Oxford, she was a pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Birmingham and then Vice-Principal for Education at King's College London.^[3] O'Brien's scholarly work focuses on the British, American and French Enlightenments, and on British literature more generally between 1660 and 1820.^[6] She was awarded her doctoral degree (DPhil) by St Cross College, Oxford in 1986 for a thesis on English,^[7] after having completed her undergraduate studies at University College.^[8] She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge.^[9]

Selected works

• Book: O'Brien . Karen . Narratives of enlightenment: cosmopolitan history from Voltaire to Gibbon . 1997 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-0521465335.
• Book: O'Brien . Karen . Women and Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Britain . 2009 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-0521773492.
• Book: Garside . Peter . O'Brien . Karen . English and British fiction: 1750-1820 . 2015 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 9780199574803.
• Book: O'Brien . Karen . Young . Brian . The Cambridge companion to Edward Gibbon . 2018 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-1107035119.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Durham University Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2023. Durham University . 31 January 2024.
2. Web site: Professor Karen O'Brien . Humanities Division . University of Oxford . 27 May 2021 . en.
3. Web site: Durham appoints new Vice-Chancellor and Warden . Durham University News . Durham University . 27 May 2021 . 5 May 2021.
4. Web site: Professor Karen O'Brien . Faculty of English . University of Oxford . 27 May 2021 . en.
5. News: Ffrench . Andrew . Head of humanities appointed at Oxford University . 27 May 2021 . Oxford Mail . 20 May 2016 . en.
6. Web site: Karen O'Brien . The RSA . 27 May 2021.
7. Web site: Alumna Professor Karen O'Brien appointed Vice-Chancellor and Warden at Durham University . St Cross College . University of Oxford . 8 March 2022.
8. Web site: Karen O'Brien . University College . University of Oxford . 8 March 2022.
9. Web site: Professor Karen O'Brien biography . Durham University . 8 March 2022.