The Minister for Higher and Further Education has announced that Professor Cara Aitchison has been appointed as Chair of the Scottish Funding Council. Professor Aitchison has been Interim Co-Chair since April 2025, working alongside Deputy Chair, Lorna Jack.
Professor Aitchison has had a distinguished academic career holding senior leadership roles in Scotland, the wider UK, and internationally – including over a decade as a successful university principal in England and Wales. She is an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education, where she was previously Head of School, and Professor Emerita in Geography and Cultural Economy at Cardiff Metropolitan University where she was previously President and Vice-Chancellor.
Amongst Professor Aitchison’s previous contributions in the public sphere are membership of the Economic Growth Board of Cardiff Capital Region and the Council of CBI Wales. She was also chair of Universities UK’s Staff-Student Sexual Misconduct Advisory Group and Chair of the Wales-Ukraine Universities Group established by Universities Wales and Welsh Government.
A native of Stirling, Professor Aitchison is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Geographical Society, the Learned Society of Wales, and the Higher Education Academy.
