Professor Helen Bailey is Vice-Principal (International) and Professor of Interdisciplinary Performance Practice at Queen Mary University of London.
Helen joins Queen Mary University from King's College London, where she led a range of high-profile strategic, multi-faculty partnership developments across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa in her role as Deputy Vice President for Global Business Development and Global Ambassador for International, Engagement and Service.
Helen holds a PhD in choreographic practice and immersive technologies and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Associate of King’s College London.
In her 15 years in senior academic leadership in international higher education, Helen has held roles as Head of Department, Associate Dean and Executive Dean at a range of institutions in the UK including Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music & Dance and De Montfort University. She is also committed to supporting higher education more broadly, exemplified by her being a member of the Board of Governors/Trustees of The Place for the London School of Contemporary Dance.
Helen has a deep commitment to creative industries, digital humanities, integrating arts and innovative technologies and the role of the arts in place making. Her interdisciplinary, practice-led research and education partnership activity has a strong track record of securing funding including from the British Council, Arts Council England, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Joint Information Systems Committee, as well as significant philanthropic and commercial funding from the public and private sectors.
Her dedication to developing equitable partnerships that deliver mutual benefits for institutions, students, and staff globally has been a hallmark of her career. Helen is a proponent of an entrepreneurial approach to higher education and offering opportunities for innovation in education and research through collaborative partnerships.