Heriot-Watt University has appointed four new research leaders to join the School of Textile and Design based in the University's Scottish Borders Campus in Galashiels, in a move which will provide strategic leadership.
The appointments will further enhance the school's position as one of the world's leading education and research institutions in the field of textile design and production.
- Glasgow-based artist, writer and curator, Fiona Jardine joins as Lecturer in Context. Since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art she has exhibited widely in the UK, New York, Paris and Montreal. Fiona has spent the majority of her professional career to date at the University of Dundee where she taught Textile Design. Her recent work includes an exhibition at Paisley Museum called €˜Troglodytes' featuring rarely-seen Victorian portraits.
- Award winning textile designer, Dr Sara Keith, will become a lecturer in Textile Design with Innovation. After graduating from Glasgow School of Art with a BA (Hons) in Embroidered and Woven Textile Design, she worked as a costume designer for the BBC, ITV, The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet before setting up her own luxury accessory label. Sara has exhibited and presented research papers in the UK, Finland, Japan and Australia.
- Aude Le Guennec, a French fashion historian specialising in children's clothing has been appointed as lecturer in Fashion Design. Aude, who has worked with big designer brands including Louis Vuitton, has spent the last eight years at the Textile and Fashion Museum in Cholet, France where he developed a resource centre for knowledge and conservation of children's fashion.
- Fashion designer Bruce Munro Roberts, owner of Collections By in Kelso, will become a Teaching Fellow in Fashion Technology. The former School of Textiles and Design graduate has spent the last 10 years designing bespoke wedding gowns and evening attire, using a wide range of fabrics in both contemporary and traditional styles.
Professor Alison Harley, Head of Heriot-Watt's School of Textiles and Design, said, "In order to further enhance our position as one of the world's
leading education and research institutions in the field, we are pleased to be bringing in four new appointments, each of whom brings a breadth of experience and expertise in their particular field. Their success enhances the textile design and production research landscape while encouraging undergraduate and postgraduate students to strive for international excellence and recognition."
The University's School of Textiles and Design is the second oldest textile institution in the world, dating back to 1883. It was formed from a merger of the Scottish College of Textiles and Heriot-Watt in 1998 to enable the school to grow and to expand higher education provision in the Scottish Borders.