Brenda Gourley was appointed vice chancellor of The Open University, United Kingdom, in 2001. Formerly, she served as vice chancellor of the University of Natal in South Africa. Prior to her appointment to that position in 1994, she served the University of Natal in various senior academic and administrative positions. An expert on higher education, she also has an interest in strategic thinking, systems thinking, and leadership, and participates frequently in scenario-planning exercises for organizations outside the university sector. She actively serves on many national and international boards concerned with higher education. In 1997, Professor Gourley was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham in recognition of her contribution to higher education. She is an alumna of Salzburg Seminar Special Session, Educational Reform in South Africa, 1996, and served as Co-Chair on the Faculty of Session 389, Linking Theory and Practice in Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 2001, and the 21st Symposium of the Universities Project, Reform Strategy in Russian Higher Education, 2002.