Our second Leading Ladies event of 2022 will be held at Dundee Rep with guest speaker, Professor Liz Bacon, Principal and Vice Chancellor of Abertay University.  

Throughout her career, Liz has worked to improve quality and standards in higher education, including a focus on degree accreditation standards in computer science both in the UK and internationally.

⭐ ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THE EVENT IS NOW CLOSED, SHOULD YOU WISH TO CHECK LAST MINUTE AVAILABILITY PLEASE EMAIL SARAHYOUNG@DUNDEEANDANGUSCHAMBER.CO.UK ⭐

Our Leading Ladies series hears from some of the nation's inspiring female entrepreneurs. We learn more about their career and lessons learnt along the way. The series is open to all and not aimed solely at a female audience, our Leading Ladies can inspire the most senior of business people across the region. 

Professor Bacon will be accompanied by two of the regions leading female entrepreneurs for a panel Q&A session at the end of the event. Join us for breakfast as we learn more from these inspiring Leading Ladies.

Professor Liz Bacon, Principal & Vice-Chancellor, Abertay University

Professor Liz Bacon CEng, CSci, CITP, FBCS, FIScT, PFHEA, NTF, MACM is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University. She is a National Teaching Fellow, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Trustee and Director of Bletchley Park Trust.  She is a past President of both the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education).  She is also a past Chair of the BCS Academy of Computing, and the CPHC (Council of Professors and Heads of Computing) national committee. She is an international researcher in computer science, with over 100 refereed publications, her main research focus being in technology-enhanced, and immersive, learning. Liz is a worldwide speaker on a range of topics, including preparing staff and students for the fourth industrial revolution’s impact on teaching, learning and work, and improving diversity and participation in STEM, particularly among women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Panel Members

Jess Thorpe, Associate Director, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre

Jess has worked in Scotland and internationally for over 20 years making new performance work with communities and individuals with an emphasis on autobiography and social engagement. She is also co-Artistic Director of the creative partnership Glass Performance through which she also developed long term initiatives such young people's performance company Junction 25 and Polmont Youth Theatre, the first youth theatre in a Scottish prison. In 2015 Junction 25 won a CATS Whiskers for an outstanding contribution to Scottish theatre.

Alongside this work, she is currently part-time Lecturer in the Arts in Justice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she designs and delivers creative projects in prisons and with communities affected by crime. She is a founder and trustee of Justice and Arts Scotland (formally SPAN) an organisation dedicated to developing creative work in Scottish prisons and post-release. Jess is an artist and consultant with the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA), where she has led projects across the world.

Jess has published a large number of articles around the use of the Arts in socially engaged contexts and in 2019 released her first book 'A Beginners Guide to Devising Theatre' co-written with her long time collaborator Tashi Gore for Bloomsbury.