Professor Dame Heather McGregor

Professor Dame Heather J. McGregor DBE FRSE is the Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai. Professor McGregor was previously the Executive Dean of the Edinburgh Business School, having held the post since 2016. Her earlier career was in investment banking, and she has spent 17 years as an entrepreneur leading her own executive search firm prior to her move into higher education.

Professor McGregor has a PhD from the University of Hong Kong in Structured Finance and an MBA from the London Business School. She is a qualified chartered management accountant (CGMA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Her undergraduate degree was a BSc in Agricultural Economics & Marketing from Newcastle University.

Professor McGregor is an experienced writer and broadcaster, including writing a column for the Financial Times for 17 years. She was the founder of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which works to promote diversity in the communications industry, and a founding member of the steering committee of the 30% Club, which works to raise the representation of women at senior levels within publicly listed companies. Professor McGregor serves as the non-executive director of publicly listed companies in the United States.

In 2021, Professor McGregor was among the first two people at Heriot-Watt University to be named a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was awarded a CBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours List in UK for her services to business, especially diversity in the workplace. Professor McGregor was also among the first to be made a Dame in the 2023 King’s New Years Honours List for her services to education, business and heritage in Scotland.