Celebrating exceptional women at LJMU

Two of our women’s networks gathered at the start of the academic year to recognise and celebrate the success of colleagues across both academia and professional services.

The collaborative event, organised and hosted by the Diversity and Inclusion team and both the Women Academics and Women in Professional Services Networks, saw LJMU staff come together for an afternoon of reflections marking the accomplishments and progressions of women at the institution.

Tina Purkis, Executive Director Human Resources, thanked everyone for their attendance and acknowledged the dedication of the volunteers that coordinate the women’s staff networks in bringing the event to fruition.

We are thrilled with the success of the event and delighted that so many women from across the institution were able to join us to celebrate. We are looking forward to creating more events for women to connect over the next year.

Women Academics and Women in Professional Services Network officials 

Professors and readers celebration

Professor Carol Cox and Dr Fiona Armstrong-Gibbs shared their experiences of recently navigating the professor and reader process, highlighting their learnings and advice for those looking to embark upon the conferment process themselves.

Women at LJMU recognised in the 2025 conferral process are:

• Carol Cox: Professor of Policing
• Rafaela Ganga: Professor of Public Sociology
• Track Dinning: Professor of Entrepreneurship Education
• Lisa Newson: Professor of Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine
• Stephanie Evers: Professor of Wetland Ecology and Biogeochemistry
• Heather Panter: Associate Professor in Policing Studies
• Hilary Bishop: Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage
• Julie Roberts: Associate Professor in Forensic Anthropology
• Sondeep Kandola: Reader in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
• Suzanne Cronshaw: Associate Professor in Digital Marketing Pedagogy
• Jennifer Germain: Associate Professor in Public Health Approaches to Risk Behaviours
• Frances Yeoman: Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Literacy
• Mawada Abdellatif: Associate Professor in Water and Environmental Engineering
• Andrea Livesey: Associate Professor in Engaged History
• Simone Durr: Associate Professor in Engagement for Biofouling and Environmentally Friendly Antifouling
• Ismini Nakouti: Associate Professor in Microbial Natural Products

Professional development celebration

Attendees also heard from Claire Hanlon from the School of Psychology, Ella Lynch from Corporate Communications, and Sara Whinnett from Student Recruitment Marketing and Admissions about various leadership and development programmes available to women at LJMU both through the Organisational Development team and through external bodies like Advance HE.

My power lies in my lived experience, and I need to remember that.

Claire Hanlon

Awards recognising institutional contributions

Eight exceptional women were also honoured with awards at the event, nominated by their peers and recognised across four categories.

The winners were:

• Amazing mentor (Academic/Research): Ibijoke Idowu
• Amazing mentor (Professional Services): Angie Garrod
• Brilliant role model (Academic/Research): Lorna Porcellato
• Brilliant role model (Professional Services): Angela Slater
• Excellent line manager (Academic/Research): Track Dinning
• Excellent line manager (Professional Services): Sarah Kelly
• Rising star (Academic Research): Amy Hammond
• Rising star (Professional Services): Jennifer Stokoe

More than 100 nominations were submitted highlighting the amazing work undertaken by women across all factions of the university.

Interview with Pro-Vice Chancellor for External Engagements and Partnerships

The event was rounded off with a thoughtful and honest in conversation session with Dr Aileen Jones, Pro-Vice Chancellor for External Engagements and Partnerships, who shared a candid insight into her impressive career trajectory as well as her thoughts on the qualities that successful leaders possess.

Don’t underestimate the power of listening to others. It can be an underrated skill. Leadership is about bringing people with you, and you can’t do that without listening and acting with empathy.

Dr Aileen Jones

Join a staff network

There are eight staff networks available at LJMU. Each one is instrumental in creating a safe space for employees to come together, share their stories and build a sense of community based on their shared identity and lived experiences. The networks run meetings, events and activities throughout the academic year.

LJMU staff who wish to join a network can do this by clicking the ‘Get involved in the Network’ button on each network’s page, found on the Networks and Committees section of the Diversity and Inclusion webpage.

Once part of a network, you’ll be added to the Teams group and can interact with your fellow network members and receive updates on meetings etc.