Professor Jo-Anne Murray

Biography

Professor Jo-Anne Murray joined the University of Aberdeen as Vice-Principal Education in February 2024. Jo-Anne is responsible for all aspects of education and the student experience. Prior to joining Aberdeen, Jo-Anne was Pro-Vice Chancellor, Digital Transformation at the University of Leeds where she was responsible for leading the overall digital transformation strategy.

Prior to joining Leeds, Jo-Anne was a Managing Director at Higher Ed Partners (HEP) where she worked with senior executive-level colleagues within Universities across the UK to define and deliver strategic vision for digital transformation in education.    

Jo-Anne was also Assistant Vice Principal, Digital Education, at the University of Glasgow and Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies. Prior to that, she held senior roles at the University of Edinburgh leading learning technology teams, online learning and postgraduate taught programmes. 

Jo-Anne is Professor of Educational Innovation and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  She has led the development of many novel approaches to learning, teaching and assessment, including virtual worlds, online distance learning, massive open online courses, mobile apps and the use of robots in education.  Jo-Anne has also led and participated in a range of research activities in education and the biological sciences and has published over 130 peer reviewed articles.  

She is an internationally renowned animal nutritionist, specialising in Equine Nutrition. She is the first and only Animal Nutritionist to be awarded Fellowship of the Association for Nutrition. Jo-Anne set up the first and only online Masters in Animal Nutrition at the University of Glasgow. Her research is aimed at improving gut health in equids, including investigating the effect of diet on the gastrointestinal tract and on equine behaviour.   Her combined academic and practical experience has led to her excellent reputation as a world-leading equine nutritionist.