Michael Worton

Michael John Worton CBE (born 1951) is a British scholar of French. He was Vice-Provost (International) of University College London (UCL), appointed 1998. He held this appointment concurrently with the university's Fielden Professorship of French Language and Literature.^[1] He retired at the end of September 2013.^[2]

In 2009, he wrote Review of Modern Foreign Languages Provision in Higher Education in England^[3] for the UK Government, and in the same year was appointed Higher Education Advisor to the British Council.^[1]

Early life

Worton was born in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), of a Yorkshire father and Scottish mother. Worton's family returned to Scotland when he was still of primary-school age, and he undertook his schooling at Sanquhar Academy and then Dumfries Academy, going to Edinburgh University for his M.A. and PhD (his PhD thesis was supervised by Graham D. Martin and was titled The Evolution of the Poetry of René Char: 1928-45^[4]). He has lectured around the world on issues in French Literature, gender studies, painting and photography, critical theory and pedagogy. Over the past decade, he has also spoken around the world on issues in Higher Education Policy and Practice. He is also a champion for the importance of modern languages in education.

Academic career

Worton's first post (1976) was as lecturer in French at Liverpool University. He then moved to UCL (1980), initially as lecturer in French Language and literature, and successively: Senior Lecturer in French (1991); Professor of French (Personal Chair) and Dean of Faculty of Arts(1994); appointed to Fielden Chair of French Language and Literature, as well as Vice Provost - with oversight of UCL's Teaching and Learning, and the faculties of the Arts & Humanities, and Social Sciences (1998). In 2004 his Vice Provost role expanded to ‘Academic and International’.^[1]

Worton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.^[5]

Honours

• 1998: Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques
• 2005: Promoted to Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques
• 2009: Medal of Honoured Worker in Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• 25 November 2010: President's Medal by the British Academy; "for his leadership in addressing 'the languages deficit' among British university students"^[6]

Current advisory appointments

• Member, Philip Lawrence Awards Judging Panel | Member, European Science Foundation Steering Committee, 'European Reference Index for the Humanities’ | Member, Higher Education Panel of the Church of England Board of Education | Chair, HEFCE/AHRC Expert Group on Research Metrics | Board Member, CreateKX | Member, Prime Minister's Initiative Higher Education Advisory Group | Member, QAA Development Group for Masters Level Benchmarking | Member, British Council,Education and Governance Advisory Group | Member, Research Information Network (RIN) Research and Libraries Working Group | 2007--: Director and Trustee, CARA (Council for Assisting Refugee Academics) | Member, Comité International de Consultation en Sciences Humaines et Sociales de l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Council) | Centre for Education and Industry Diploma in Humanities Steering Group | Appointed Higher Education Advisor to the British Council | Member of the Advisory Board for the Programme of Artistic Research of the Austrian Research Council (FWF).^[1]

Recent scholarship

• Typical Men (Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham 2001). Catalogue of the exhibition Typical Men. Recent Photography of the Male Body by Men (see below under ‘Exhibition’).<r^[1]
• Women's Writing in Contemporary France: New Writers, New Literatures in the 1990s, edited and introduced by Gill Rye andMichael Worton (Manchester University Press, 2002).^[1]
• National Healths: Gender, Sexuality and Health in a Cross-cultural Context, edited by Michael Worton with Nana Wilson-Tagoe (UCL Press, 2004).^[1]
• Liberating Learning: Widening Participation, edited by Michael Worton and Patrick Derham ( University of Buckingham Press, 2010).^[1]

References