IOE director to retire after 10 years

Professor Geoff Whitty has announced that he is going to retire from his role of Director of the Institute of Education, University of London in September of this year, after completing a decade in the post. A leading scholar in the areas of education policy, teacher education and curriculum, Professor Whitty became IOE director in September 2000.

Lady Elizabeth Vallance, outgoing chair of the IOE Council, who worked with Professor Whitty for many years, says, ‘Geoff has led the Institute through a period in which it both expanded its vision and delivered on its global ambitions. Under his leadership, the Institute gained the power to award its own degrees in 2007, and, with its outstanding performance in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, has been recognised as one of the foremost research institutions in the country.’

Announcing his retirement to IOE staff this week, Professor Whitty, 63, said, ‘I first came to the Institute as a PGCE student in 1968, returned as a Diploma and MA student in the early 1970s and joined the staff as the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education in 1992. Even during the 20 years when I was not working here, and especially when I taught at King's and Goldsmiths, I maintained close ties with the Institute. So for over 40 years now, I have considered the Institute my intellectual and professional home and the thought of life without it and without the fantastic students and colleagues I work with here is, in many respects, quite daunting.’

However, having stayed at the Institute for twice as long as he originally planned and having just led it through a major strategic review, he believes now is the right time for a new leader to be appointed who can commit a good few years to the next phase of the Institute's development.

When he stands down as Director of the Institute in September, Professor Whitty plans to remain an active contributor to educational policy and practice following the general election, as well as pursuing a range of other interests in the public and voluntary sectors.

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Content added on 26th January 2010.

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