Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Julie Sanders joined Royal Holloway, University of London as Vice-Chancellor and Principal in October 2022 and has been proud to lead on the RH2030s strategy and its associated values of being open, daring, innovative and respectful.
She was previously the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Newcastle University (2018-2022) and prior to that was Newcastle's Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Humanities and Social Sciences (2015-2018).
Before joining Newcastle, she had held leadership positions at the University of Nottingham including Head of the School of English (2010-2013) and then Vice-Provost for Teaching and Learning at the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus in China (2013-2015). She started her academic career at Keele University in 1995 having studied English as an undergraduate at Girton College, University of Cambridge and going on to complete an MA and a PhD at the University of Warwick including study abroad at Ca'Foscari in Venice and at University of California, Berkeley.
Julie is currently a board member for Universities UK and a trustee of London Higher. She is also on the HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Advisory Board. She has previously been a trustee for a number of cultural venues including Shakespeare's Globe (2020-2026), Shakespeare North Playhouse and Northern Stage. She has served on steering groups for, among others, Research England, and the Australian Research Council. She has undertaken research review exercises in Ireland and Sweden, held fellowships in Canada, Australia and Korea and previously held grants from the AHRC, ESRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust. In 2025, she was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant by the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey.
Julie's own research and education interests are in early modern drama and adaptation studies. She co-edits a series on Early Modern Literary Geographies for Oxford University Press and is currently co-editing Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 for Cambridge University Press as well as writing the third edition of her book on Adaptation and Appropriation for Routledge.
