Name Michael Worton Role Scholar | ||
![]() | ||
Books Typical Men: Recent Photography of the Male Body by Men, Michel Tournier, La Goutte D'or | ||
Michael worton on why ucl is london s global university
Michael John Worton CBE (born 1951) is a British scholar of French. He was Vice-Provost (International) of University College London (UCL), appointed 1998. He held this appointment concurrently with the university's Fielden Professorship of French Language and Literature. He retired at the end of September 2013.
Contents
- Michael worton on why ucl is london s global university
- Early life
- Academic career
- Honours
- Current advisory appointments
- Recent scholarship
- References
In 2009, he wrote Review of Modern Foreign Languages Provision in Higher Education in England for the UK Government, and in the same year was appointed Higher Education Advisor to the British Council.
Early life
Worton was born in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), of a Yorkshire father and Scottish mother. Worton's family returned to Scotland when he was still of primary-school age, and he undertook his schooling at Sanquhar Academy and then Dumfries Academy, going to Edinburgh University for his M.A. and PhD (his PhD thesis was supervised by Graham D. Martin and was titled The Evolution of the Poetry of René Char: 1928-45). He has lectured around the world on issues in French Literature, gender studies, painting and photography, critical theory and pedagogy. Over the past decade, he has also spoken around the world on issues in Higher Education Policy and Practice. He is also a champion for the importance of modern languages in education.
Academic career
Worton's first post (1976) was as lecturer in French at Liverpool University. He then moved to UCL (1980), initially as lecturer in French Language and literature, and successively: Senior Lecturer in French (1991); Professor of French (Personal Chair) and Dean of Faculty of Arts(1994); appointed to Fielden Chair of French Language and Literature, as well as Vice Provost - with oversight of UCL's Teaching and Learning, and the faculties of the Arts & Humanities, and Social Sciences (1998). In 2004 his Vice Provost role expanded to ‘Academic and International’.
Worton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.