Professor Karen Holford CBE FREng has been the Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor and of Cranfield University since August 2021.
Before this, she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff University.
Karen is an engineer, starting out as an Undergraduate Apprentice at Rolls-Royce and worked in industry prior to moving into academia. She received her BEng (Hons) from Cardiff University followed by a PhD, and in 2018, she was named one of Wales’ 100 most influential women.
Karen has served in many advisory positions across the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Royal Academy of Engineering. She currently serves on the Oxford–Cambridge Arc Universities Group Board and is Chair of the Midlands Innovation University Partnership Board.