Since 2007 Barga has been twinned with East Lothian in Scotland and this week comes news that five East Lothians were recipients of the Queen’s New Year Honour.
Robert Douglas-Miller, Dorothy Hilsley, John Lindsay, Andrew Wildgoose and Professor Petra Wend were all named in the New Year Honours List.
And its that last name which has made people in Barga sit up and take notice – Petra Wend.
Petra has been a resident in Barga for a number of years.
Petra Wend PhD, FRSA, FRSE, CBE – Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Petra Wend, Professor Emerita and retired Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen Margaret University (QMU) Scotland, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours list, for services to higher education.
A committed internationalist, Professor Wend has worked consistently throughout her career as an academic to cross borders, geographically and socially, in order to realise the full potential of the institutions with which she has been associated.
She originally read Italian and French Language and Literature, and Education at the University of Münster in Germany and gained a PhD in Italian Language and Literature at Leeds University.
In addition to her role at the Queen Margaret University, she has been a member or chair of a significant number of national and international boards. These roles include the Chair of the National Implementation Board for Teaching Scotland’s Future, a Commissioner on the Commission on Widening Access, Vice-Convener of Universities Scotland, member of the Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and also their Education Committee, Director on the Board of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Chair of the Common Purpose Edinburgh Advisory Group, and membership of the British Council Scotland Advisory Committee. She is Chair of the Global Universities Leaders’ Council. She is also a member of the Council of the University of Hamburg.
