Professor Morag Shiach

Professor Morag Shiach became a Goodenough College Trustee in March 2026. She is Emerita Professor of Cultural History at Queen Mary University of London, where her research and teaching are focussed particularly on Modernism. From 2012-17 she was Director of Creativeworks London, a Knowledge Exchange Hub connecting researchers across London’s universities with creative SMEs and entrepreneurs. In 2016/2017 she led a project in partnership with the University of São Paulo, developing a comparative analysis of creative hubs in the UK and Brazil.  She has supervised many doctoral students and has particularly enjoyed supporting interdisciplinary projects.

Morag has an undergraduate degree in Drama and Philosophy from the University of Glasgow; an MA in Communications from McGill University in Montreal, and a PhD in English from the University of Cambridge, where she was supervised by the cultural historian and theorist Raymond Williams. She held a range of senior roles at QMUL, including Vice-Principal for Teaching and Learning and Vice-Principal for Humanities and Social Sciences. She was responsible for developing and supporting international partnerships, focussed particularly on postgraduate education.

Morag is a Court Assistant of the Drapers’ Company and served as Master in 2024/25. She was Vice-Chair of the Governing Body of Drapers’ Academy from its creation in 2010 and subsequently served as Chair of the Drapers’ Multi-Academy Trust Board.  She is now Chair of the Company’s Education Committee, which seeks to enhance the impacts of its extensive work with more than 30 educational institutions, from primary schools to universities.

Morag first became aware of the special character of Goodenough College when she was invited to dinner there by one of her PhD students and is keen to support the work of such an excellent and distinctive institution.