Appointed 2025

Maria Slowey is Emeritus Professor, School of Policy and Practice, Dublin City University, where she was the Founding Director of the Higher Education Research Centre (HERC), and served as Vice President and Academic Registrar (2004–2008). Prior to this, she was Professor and Director of Adult and Continuing Education and Vice-Dean (Research) at the University of Glasgow (1992–2004).

Her research focuses on lifelong learning and higher education, areas in which she has published extensively. She has served as an advisor to national and international policy bodies, including UNESCO, the OECD, and EU agencies, and has held visiting academic positions at many universities including UC Berkeley, Stanford, the University of Melbourne, the University of Oxford (Kellogg College), the University of Cambridge (Homerton College), Nagoya University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Currently (2025) she is Visiting Professor at both the University of Florence and the University of Glasgow, and is Senior Editor of Studies in Higher Education.

She has been actively involved with the Society for Research into Higher Education since the 1980s, serving as Chair of Research and Development and as a Council member. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Member of the International Adult Education Hall of Fame.