Chief Operating Officer receives fellowship from former university

The University of Hertfordshire has awarded the University of Northampton’s chief operating officer Terry Neville, a Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding work to the development of the University.

Commenting on receiving his award, Terry said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Fellowship award from the University of Hertfordshire.  My years at Hertfordshire were very rewarding, both personally and professionally.  The development of the University during this time was amazing, the success of the campus moves and the recognition of this in student recruitment was extraordinary.  Alongside this, Hertfordshire’s rise to being the UK’s leading business-facing University is outstanding and I am extremely proud to have been a part of such an institution.”

Joining the University in 1992, Terry began as Director of Finance, bringing with him much-needed financial expertise and a wealth of management experience. He became Pro Vice-Chancellor and subsequently Deputy Vice-Chancellor and was heavily involved in campus developments.

Terry negotiated the finance contract and oversaw the building work of the £120 million de Havilland construction, which at the time was the largest development in British higher education and the first to be part-funded via a private finance initiative. He took lead in establishing the University’s business-facing model; a government-backed initiative to create an exemplar for a new generation of universities and raised the University’s cultural profile by championing the idea of UHArts. He was also a driving force behind UHGalleries, now one of the most dynamic art spaces in the UK. Terry stepped down from the University of Hertfordshire in 2011 but his retirement was fleeting, tempted back to work at the University of Northampton.

At the ceremony on Wednesday 20 November – held in the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Albans – Terry received his Fellowship alongside over 4,400 new graduates celebrating academic success.

In reading the citation, Julie Newlan, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Enterprise at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “Throughout his career Terry has strived to create the best possible environment for students and to make a real difference to their experience. He achieved this and much more at our University and we owe him a great debt of gratitude.”

​The University has also shown its appreciation to nineteen other pillars of the community by awarding Honorary Degrees and Fellowships for outstanding contribution to academic disciplines, charity, professions or public service – presented by Lord Salisbury, Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire; Professor Quintin McKellar, Vice-Chancellor; Professor Ian Campbell, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Richard Beazley, Pro Chancellor.