Andrew Jennings and Su Bryan awarded professorial titles by UHI
The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) has awarded professorial titles to two academics in recognition of their outstanding contributions to teaching, research, academic leadership and regional impact.
Andrew Jennings has been awarded the title Professor of Island Studies, while Su Bryan becomes Professor of Tertiary Education Ecosystems.
The appointments reflect UHI’s distinctive approach to recognising academic excellence across a range of pathways, including research, learning and teaching, and academic leadership and management.
Professor Brian Williams, Deputy Principal Academic and Research at UHI, said:
“These appointments recognise two exceptional individuals whose work exemplifies the values and ambitions of UHI.
“Andrew Jennings has established an international reputation in island studies through deeply engaged, place-based scholarship rooted in Shetland and connected across the North Atlantic and beyond.
“Su Bryan has played a transformative leadership role across tertiary education, skills development and regional partnership working, helping shape UHI’s identity and impact over more than two decades.
“Both professors embody our commitment to being bold, connected and community-focused, and I warmly congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition.”
Based at UHI Shetland, Professor Andrew Jennings is an historian, linguist, folklorist and island studies scholar whose interdisciplinary work explores the heritage, culture and contemporary futures of island communities.
Originally from central Scotland, he completed his MA and PhD at the University of Edinburgh while also training as a professional classical singer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His varied career has included work as a BBC Radio Scotland travel broadcaster, an expert tour guide specialising in North Atlantic destinations, and the owner of an antiquarian bookshop before moving permanently to Shetland in 2007.
Since joining the Institute for Northern Studies in 2009, he has helped establish UHI as a globally recognised centre for island studies. He leads the UHI Island Studies Hub and has developed extensive international collaborations across the North Atlantic, including through the UArctic Thematic Network for Northern and Arctic Island Studies Research.
He enjoys everything about life in the archipelago, including walking the dog and experiencing the wild Shetland weather. His daughter has married a Shetlander, and he now has two feisty Shetland grandsons.
Professor Jennings said:
“I’m deeply honoured to receive this title from UHI, an institution whose values and mission I strongly believe in.
“My work has always been shaped by the idea that world-leading scholarship can thrive within the communities it serves. Living and working in Shetland has inspired both my teaching and research, and this recognition reflects not only my own work but the support and collaboration of colleagues, students and communities across the islands and beyond.
“I’m excited to continue developing UHI’s global reputation in island studies and to help build new international partnerships and opportunities from our base in Shetland.”
Professor Su Bryan has worked across the UHI partnership for more than 20 years and is currently Dean of the Faculty of Science, Health and the Environment. With an academic background in behavioural ecology, she holds a degree in Biology from the University of Oxford and a PhD from the University of Stirling. She developed her passion for education as a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Following the birth of her two sons and a family relocation to the Highlands, she joined UHI as a part-time lecturer in Elgin and progressed into senior academic leadership roles across the partnership.
Her professorship recognises her major contribution to academic leadership and management, making her one of the first academics at UHI to be recognised through this route. Her work has helped shape UHI’s distinctive tertiary model, connecting further and higher education, research, industry and communities across the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Perthshire and beyond. She was awarded Principal Fellowship of AdvanceHE in 2024.
Professor Bryan has led major regional and national initiatives in skills planning, sustainability, workforce development and widening access to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education. She has also played a leading role in establishing strategic partnerships across education, government and industry.
Her current international work explores how tertiary education models can better support rural and regional communities, including plans to establish a Global Alliance for Tertiary Education.
Professor Bryan said:
“I’m delighted and honoured to receive this recognition from UHI. Along with many other colleagues at UHI, I am proud to help deliver our transformational mission and to change lives in our communities.
“What makes this recognition for academic leadership and management particularly meaningful to me, is that it demonstrates UHI’s commitment to recognising excellence across multiple academic pathways. I’m proud to act as an ambassador for that inclusive and forward-looking approach.
“Throughout my career, I’ve focussed on building connections between people, across disciplines, institutions and communities to create new opportunities and long-term impact. UHI’s tertiary model is uniquely placed to support learners and regions, and I look forward to continuing to champion that work nationally and internationally.”
Both professors will deliver inaugural professorial lectures in autumn 2026, with Professor Su Bryan speaking in Inverness and Professor Andrew Jennings delivering his lecture in Shetland. Further details will be announced in due course.