Dame Jenny Harries DBE DL announced as Chancellor for the University of Chester

Dame Jenny will be officially installed during a ceremony held as part of graduation week at Chester Cathedral on Thursday, November 6 2025.

Chancellors can advise universities objectively, in the capacity of a 'critical friend, drawing on their own professional experience.' They are usually also chosen for their association with an institution, its work and its surrounding communities and have often held public office.

Dame Jenny is best known for the prominent public media role she played in the Covid-19 pandemic response, delivering briefings from Number 10 to our sitting rooms in her former role as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England and as a Second Permanent Secretary in the Department of Health.

Dame Jenny has made major contributions to a number of significant recent UK health protection responses, including Ebola, Zika, the first mpox case, MERS and the Novichok attacks at Salisbury. She received an OBE in 2016 for services to Public Health and a DBE in 2022 for services to Health.

A long-time supporter of the University of Chester, she has been a proud honorary Professor of Public Health since 2019. She plans to take a special interest in Chester’s Medical School, as well as bringing transferable skills to contribute to the whole University - especially in business, management, science, finance, international relations and local and national government.

From 2021, she was the founding Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a large multi-disciplinary science and evidence-based organisation tasked with protecting the nation from external threats to health. Here she launched two global firsts in which she takes deep pride: a Centre for Climate and Health Security, and a Health Equity for Security Strategy – topics deeply aligned with the ambitions of the University. At her retirement in 2025, the Agency had contributed significantly to progressing new diagnostic tests and vaccines and had research and emergency response teams operating throughout England and across five global continents. Her career in public service spans regional leadership roles at Public Health England and joint directorships in local government and NHS bodies across England and Wales.

Dame Jenny’s expertise extends internationally, having contributed to health policy and evaluation projects in countries such as Pakistan, Albania, India, Brazil and New Zealand.

She was the founding chair of WHO Europe’s Network for Disease Control; Co-chair of the Strategic Advisory Group establishing the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, a, new post-pandemic community and data systems for global health protection. She served on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and was a member of the Expert Advisory Group on the NHS Constitution.

Recently Dame Jenny has become the Chair of Community Pharmacy England; is a Director of the Biotech Growth Trust; holds an Honorary Professorship in Health Security at Nottingham University and acts as a senior advisor on workplace health. In 2023 she was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Gwent.

Dame Jenny will take over the role from former Chester MP Gyles Brandreth Hon. D.Litt, who succeeded the Duke of Westminster in March 2017 as Chancellor. He will remain firmly part of the University of Chester in the role of Chancellor Emeritus.

Professor Eunice Simmons, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Chester, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dame Jenny to the role of Chancellor to share her vast experience and knowledge with our University of Chester community. I know she will be an inspiring role model and we look forward to her guidance in taking the University forward.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Gyles Brandreth for the tireless support and enthusiasm he has brought to the role of Chancellor. He has engaged with so many students and staff, through ceremonies, events and of course the Commonwealth Poetry Podcast.  We’re thrilled he will remain a close part of our University community as Chancellor Emeritus.”

Dame Jenny said: “This role is an honour and a privilege and one which when I entered my own academic career I could never have imagined. It is precisely that gift and excitement of opportunity which I know Chester seeks to provide to all its students, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, and whatever their background, which is the reason I am drawn to serve the University as its Chancellor.

“In a world of change and global connectedness, exchange of learning, mutual respect and equity of opportunity remain the foundation stones for advancing humanity. That is precisely what the University of Chester achieves and I am delighted to be journeying with so many future citizen students of the world.”