We would like to extend our congratulations to Lady Rita Rae, who has been elected as University of Glasgow Rector.

Lady Rae is an alumna of the School of Law, graduating with an honorary LLD from the University of Glasgow in 2019. She has long-standing connections to the School of Law, as a member of the Diploma programme’s ‘Legal 40’ student mentoring scheme.

She joined the Faculty of Advocates in 1982 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992.  Lady Rae served in a number of roles before being appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland in 2014, becoming an Upper Tribunal Judge in 2017. She retired in 2020.

Lady Rae is the first woman to take up active duties as Rector at the University of Glasgow. The last female Rector was Winnie Mandela, serving from 1987-1990, a symbolic appointment to draw attention to the Apartheid regime operating in South Africa at the time.

Lady Rae contributed to the School of Law’s ‘100 voices for 100 years’ project, which marked 100 years of women in the legal profession.  You can read her profile here:

https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/100years/100voices/lady-rae/

We are delighted at the appointment of Lady Rae as Rector and look forward to supporting her work serving the University of Glasgow student community.

First published: 22 April 2021

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