Vivienne Stern

Vivienne is the Director of Universities UK International (UUKi) which represents UK universities around the world and works to enable them to flourish internationally. Vivienne has over 20 years’ experience of working in higher education policy and politics at national and international level. Prior to her role in UUKi, Vivienne was Head of Political Affairs at Universities UK, and led the sector’s response to several major pieces of legislation relating to universities. Before that, she worked for the Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, and as a policy specialist working on topics including quality, student experience, innovation and university-business links. She is a member of several Boards and advisory committees, including the Education Sector Advisory Group of the Department for Education /Department for International Trade; the Board of UKRI’s Fund for International Collaboration; the British Council’s Higher Education Advisory Group. She is also a Board member of the Council for British International Schools. She is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, where she studied English Literature.

Vivienne received the EAIE Award for Vision and Leadership in 2021 in recognition of her work to support continued internationalisation throughout the changing education landscape associated with Brexit. Her tireless work to negotiate and secure the unilateral Turing Scheme was an exceptional achievement for all those working in international higher education in the UK and beyond.