Divisional Registrar and Chief Operating Officer Alexandra Vincent

Divisional Registrar and Chief Operating Officer

Alexandra Vincent is Chief Operating Officer for the Humanities Division and Chief Executive for Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities at the University of Oxford. Core to Alex’s role is overseeing the strategy, operation, finance, and governance of the Humanities Division, one of the four academic divisions of the University. This includes responsibility for setting the strategy and overseeing the operations of the Schwarzman Centre and it’s cultural, schools, and commercial programmes.

Alex was the Division’s representative on the capital building project board for the new Centre. She was responsible for moving seven of the ten humanities faculties into the building, and establishing it as an exciting and vibrant hub of academic and cultural activity.

Prior to moving to the University of Oxford, Alex was Chief Operating Officer at Arts and Humanities Research Council and UKRI International. During her time at AHRC Alex oversaw the establishment of several multi-million-pound programmes including COSTAR, investment into a network of labs and facilities for R&D in the Creative Industries, and the Creative Industries Clusters Programme, a multi-million-pound research initiative bringing together academia and business to provide solutions to the challenges facing the sector.

Before joining AHRC, Alex was Associate Director, Policy and Analysis with Research Councils UK. As well as working on the primary legislation that established UKRI, Alex oversaw the establishment of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund as well as overseeing the development of cross-Council policy and strategy. Alex also contributed to two major reviews of research and innovation funding in Scotland and Wales.

Alex’s early career was in PR and brand management, starting in the IT industry and then moving into the public sector, eventually leading to her moving to English Heritage to manage the communications and PR for a major Heritage Lottery funded Programme.

Alex was awarded an MBE for services to arts and humanities in 2024. She is a Fellow by Special Election of Keble College. In addition, she is also a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.