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Inaugural lectures

All new professors are given the opportunity to give an inaugural lecture.

The series provides an opportunity to celebrate these achievements with each lecture representing a significant milestone in an academic's career.

Lectures are open to all University staff and students as well as to members of the public. Please see below for upcoming lectures. All lectures will be livestreamed and links will be added closer to each event.

Forthcoming lectures

Nov 21

Rethinking collective decision-making in the age of social media

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In her inaugural lecture, Anna De Liddo, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Director of Research at the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, will point out that the biggest problems of our time call for collective action. But how do we make sense of complex problems and collectively decide and act as a diverse group or community?

Previous lectures

Richard Holti

Professor Richard Holti’s inaugural lecture on new business models

In his inaugural lecture on 26 June, Professor Richard Holti presented cases from the construction and sexual health industries on new models for organising which draw on in-house expertise and creativity.

26th June 2018
Edoardo Ongaro

Context in public management, the missing link

At a time when Brexit negotiations reveal the potential confusion of assuming a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach across Europe, an OU academic described the perils of this approach worldwide.

6th February 2018
Bart Rienties

The power of learning analytics to give students (and teachers) what they want!

The power of learning analytics to predict the best learning approach for students, was outlined by Bart Rienties in his inaugural lecture on Tuesday 30 January 2018.

30th January 2018
Jonathan Rix

Why School is bad for us – lessons we need to learn

Millions of children could fail at school due to an obsession with individual assessment, literacy skills and the right kind of behaviour, according to an OU academic.

16th November 2017
Cathy Lloyd

Diabetes and Depression: A Tale of Three Cities

Professor Cathy Lloyd delivered her inaugural lecture in July 2017 on Diabetes and Depression: A Tale of Three Cities, in which she highlighted the link between diabetes and psychosocial problems such as depression.

1st July 2017
Shailey Minocha

Virtual worlds for real experiences

Professor Shailey Minocha’s inaugural lecture on Virtual worlds for real experiences took place on Tuesday 20 June 2017.

20th June 2017
Richard Brown

Shall I Compare Thee? Poetry, Education, Seduction

The demands that literature makes on readers, was addressed by Professor Richard Danson Brown in his inaugural lecture on Shall I Compare Thee? Poetry, Education, Seduction, on Tuesday 6 June 2017.

6th June 2017
Simon Lee

Open and Shut Cases

The need for judges, lawyers, law students and the general public alike, to keep an open mind in legal affairs, was highlighted by OU Professor Simon Lee in his Open University inaugural lecture on Thursday 4 May 2017.

4th May 2017

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