Sasha Roseneil, Vice-Chancellor

Today, 1 August 2022, our new Vice-Chancellor Sasha Roseneil sent an introduction message to all staff. You can read the message below:

Dear colleague, 

Today is my first day as Vice-Chancellor of this great university, and I am deeply honoured to be taking up the mantle in the University’s 60th anniversary year.   

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, so you can find out a little more about me, and why I am so excited to be joining Sussex. Please take a minute to watch my short introduction video and read more about my background and experience. 

I applied to be your new Vice-Chancellor because I have long admired Sussex’s distinctive character and mission, and because, in the face of climate crisis and environmental degradation, populist challenges to democracy, and intensifying inequalities, the world needs Sussex more than ever. Sussex has a radically global outlook and a distinguished history of ground-breaking research that aims to make the world a better, more equitable place. In scientific discovery and creative endeavour, developing global policy and pushing forward technological innovation, you are collectively making a vital difference to humanity, now and for the future. I am delighted to become a member of Sussex’s hugely talented, vibrant, and diverse community of staff, students, alumni, and supporters, and to start working on this beautiful, and wonderfully situated, campus, close to the sea and to the dynamic city of Brighton and Hove.

Pride

Sussex has inclusivity and diversity at its heart, and I am personally committed to embedding and extending this spirit still further. This weekend, along with many other staff and students, and thousands of members of the local community, I will be taking part in the Brighton and Hove Pride procession. I first attended a Pride march in London when I was a student back in the mid 1980s, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be here, doing this, nearly forty years later!

Brighton and Hove Pride is an important moment in Sussex’s calendar, and the UK’s largest Pride event. Once again, the University is a proud partner, having been a sponsor since 2017. I hope that our involvement demonstrates our institutional commitment to inclusivity and diversity, and provides an occasion for celebrating both, raising the flag for LGBTQ+ equality.

Over the coming months, I want to meet as many of you as possible, in order to listen and learn from you all, so that I can understand Sussex from the widest possible range of perspectives. I look forward to working with you as, together, we shape the next 60 years of innovative and paradigm-shifting research and education, addressing the urgent challenges of our time, and ensuring firm foundations for future generations of Sussex staff and students.

But for now, I wish you all a peaceful summer, and if you haven’t already taken some time off, I hope that you will be doing so soon.

With warm wishes,

Sasha

Professor Sasha Roseneil
Vice-Chancellor