Birkbeck celebrates Baroness Chakrabarti as new President
Baroness Chakrabarti is Birkbeck’s 17th President since its foundation in 1823.
This week, the Rt Hon Baroness Chakrabarti CBE PC, was officially inaugurated as the President of Birkbeck, University of London. Over 130 attendees gathered for the event in the university’s iconic headquarters, Senate House. Speakers included Professor Sally Wheeler OBE, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Victoria Ridler, Head of Birkbeck’s Law School, Professor David Latchman, President of the Birkbeck Fellowship, and Simon Davis, Deputy Chair of Birkbeck Governors. This was the first time Birkbeck hosted an inauguration event for an incoming president.
As the 17th President of Birkbeck, Shami Chakrabarti, will play an important honorary ambassadorial and ceremonial role at the College. Her appointment follows on from Baroness Bakewell, who was President from 2012 to September 2024, when she stepped down.
Baroness Chakrabarti hopes to represent Birkbeck by promoting its activities and ethos, and advocate on our behalf to raise the College’s profile, advance its interests, and champion its independence. Her leadership will be pivotal in upholding the principles that have defined Birkbeck’s mission for over two centuries.
A Member of the House of Lords since 2016, Baroness Chakrabarti is a Labour Peer, human rights lawyer, campaigner, and Privy Counsellor. She served as Shadow Attorney General from 2016 to 2020 and director of Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties) from 2003 to 2016. Called to the Bar in 1994, she worked as a Home Office lawyer from 1996 to 2001. She has written, spoken and broadcast widely, is author of three books and has a deep interest in higher education. She holds a number of visiting Fellowships and has previously been Chancellor of two universities: Oxford Brookes and the University of Essex.
Baroness Chakrabarti said: “I am passionate about the power of education to enhance people’s lives. Birkbeck is known for its contribution to social mobility through education, so I am really pleased to have been appointed as its new President. I look forward to meeting the College’s students and staff members, as well as advocating for and championing its work."
Sir Andrew Cahn KCMG, Chair of Governors said: “I am delighted that we have appointed Baroness Chakrabarti as Birkbeck’s President. She is a distinguished politician, lawyer, and campaigner whose work as an advocate for human rights and whose interest in higher education has a deep affinity with Birkbeck’s mission to make high quality university education accessible to all for whom it may be of benefit.”
You can watch the inauguration ceremony here.