15 June 2009

MBE for University Chaplain

The Rev Dr Fiona Douglas, Chaplain at the University of Dundee, has been awarded the MBE, for services to Higher Education.

Dr Douglas (46) has been Chaplain at the University since 1998. She said she was 'delighted' to be awarded the honour.

'I am really happy for the Chaplaincy,' said Dr Douglas. 'I regard this as a reflection of all the great work our staff do. We have a really vibrant Chaplaincy Centre at the heart of the University community, and one of the reasons it works so well is that the team working in it do such a good job.'

When she receives her MBE it will not be the first time Dr Douglas has met Her Majesty The Queen - she has previously been invited to preach at Crathie Church, at Balmoral. She also led a commemorative service at the Chaplaincy Centre when Her Majesty opened the University’s Dalhousie Building in 2007.

The Chaplaincy Centre welcomes, in Dr Douglas’s words, `those of all faiths and none’ and hosts a regular series of services, lectures and concerts.

Dr Douglas grew up in Hamilton, and is a former Head Girl of Hamilton Grammar School. She gained an Honours degree in Sociology from the University of Glasgow and then her Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh.

She was Assistant Minister at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh from 1988 to 1990, and then returned to the University of Edinburgh to study for her PhD.

She later worked in the BBC’s Religious Broadcasting unit before coming to Dundee and taking up the position as Chaplain in 1998.

Dr Douglas live in Springfield in Dundee with her husband Jeremy.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk