GCU named as UK leader in social mobility

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Pamela Gillies CBE FRSE
Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Pamela Gillies CBE FRSE

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) has been recognised as a UK leader in championing social mobility.

Professor Pamela Gillies CBE FRSE, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of GCU, has been named 2019’s Social Mobility Champion of the Year at the UK Social Mobility Awards ceremony in London. The awards, run by the charity Making The Leap, recognise and celebrate the people and organisations driving social mobility across the country.

The awards celebrated their third year with a gala at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square. On presentation of the award, judges declared Professor Gillies the “clear winner”.

Professor Gillies said: “I am delighted and honoured that GCU’s innovative and enduring commitment to social mobility has been recognised by UK Social Mobility Awards 2019. Our Common Good mission is at the heart of everything we do and exemplifies how a university can be a force for social change around the world. I am extremely proud of this endorsement of the ground-breaking achievements of our University community.”

Professor Gillies was shortlisted for the award this summer alongside senior leaders from Marks & Spencer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Grant Thornton and law firm DLA Piper.

The judges were impressed by GCU's consistent success in widening access to higher education, commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and innovative and transformational approach to enhancing social mobility at home and abroad.

Tunde Banjoko OBE, Chief Executive and Founder of the UK Social Mobility Awards, said: "The awards were created to encourage organisations across the UK to see social mobility as a business imperative and embed core strategies to advance it.”