Candidates

Lady Walmsley

Alex (MA 1993, PhD 1998) is the National Vice-Chair of SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity.

• Biography

  Alex graduated from St Andrews in 1993 with a MA (Hons) in Modern History with International Relations and then again in 1998 with a PhD in Modern History.

  She is National Vice-Chair of SSAFA the Armed Forces Charity, the world’s oldest tri-service military charity, which supports a military community of several million people around the globe. Representing the charity around the country and world, Alex also chairs its Governance Committee. Taking an active role in fundraising and development for 20 years, she has personally raised over £2 million for SSAFA.

  While a postgraduate, Alex tutored First Arts Modern History and Junior Honours International Relations, and lectured on the collapse of the USSR. She worked throughout her studies as a researcher for Ming Campbell.

  After her PhD, Alex became the first defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform and launched the Centre’s Russia programme. She also began honing her philanthropy skills and secured a significant proportion of the Centre’s vital income.

  In 2001, Alex started consulting and founded Ashbourne Strategic Consulting Ltd in 2004, specialising in transatlantic security. Since 2014, Alex has built a secondary career in the nuclear sector, running the UK subsidiary of America’s GEL Laboratories and advising radiation detection businesses. In 2025, she was elected to the Program Advisory Committee of WM Symposia, the global organisation dedicated to the safe management of radioactive matter. She chairs NATO’s annual Radiological/Nuclear Conference.

  Alex is Senior Adviser to the global consultants Newton and to FIPRA, headquartered in Brussels. From 2007 to 2012 she was a member of UK Trade and Investment’s Defence Advisory Group. Alex was appointed an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute in 2006 and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 2012. Since 2007, she has been a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and a Freeman of the City of London, becoming a Companion of the Worshipful Company of Engineers in 2022.

  In 1991, Alex was elected as the youngest female member of London's Reform Club. She was elected to the St Rule Club in St Andrews in 2023.

  Alex's book Lithuania: the rebirth of a nation was published in 1999. She is a frequent commentator on security issues for global news networks. She speaks German, with a working knowledge of Lithuanian, Russian and a smattering of other languages.

  Born in London, Alex is a dual UK/US citizen and divides her time between those countries. She married in St Salvator's Chapel to Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, son of St Andrews’ Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, Robert Walmsley, and was widowed unexpectedly in 2022.

  Alex appreciates classical and contemporary music and plays the cello. She supports Scottish Rugby and West Ham United Football Club. She fly fishes and enjoys walking, particularly on West Sands and along the Lade Braes.

• Statement

  I am St Andrews to my core: personally, intellectually and professionally. It would be the ultimate privilege to succeed Ming Campbell and coincidentally become the first female Chancellor in our history. I never set out to be a trailblazer, but I have often been the "first", "youngest" or "only" woman throughout my career.

  As a student, I only saw the then Chancellor at my two graduations. He was a remote, unrelatable figure. That needs to change. The Chancellor should be both an ambassador and advocate for our university and also visible within our St Andrews community; inspiring and energising our St Andrews family: students, staff, alumni and worldwide supporters.

  Being energetic and approachable is vital for the success of our ongoing philanthropic efforts. And that’s me!

  Although quite shy at university, St Andrews gave me confidence to blossom and now I represent SSAFA the Armed Forces Charity on the global stage. I excel in that ambassadorial role. I enjoy addressing audiences large and small, meeting Heads of State, members of Royal Families, celebrities, politicians and – also in my professional work – international government, military and corporate officials. People refer to the importance of "stakeholder engagement" and "long-term relationship building"; my colleagues simply call it "Alex-ing".

  A dual citizen since birth, I am by default international in outlook and as comfortable in the USA as in the UK. Being my own boss, I have the flexibility to coordinate my overseas travels with University officials, because I find philanthropic fundraising is particularly effective when peer-to-peer. Alumni bond with fellow alumni, supporters or potential donors in ways a non-St Andrean cannot, as we share that unique link. Our alumni connect with each other regardless of their age; my St Andrews friends are from every decade from the 1960s to the 2020s.

  At SSAFA I am heavily involved in fundraising and philanthropy, not merely in an advisory capacity but actually writing grant applications, working with global trusts and foundations and personally raising millions of pounds. Being "Lady Walmsley" certainly helps with that. Should I be elected Chancellor, I would scale back my paid work to concentrate on St Andrews and SSAFA. Since my sudden widowhood, I focus on what gives me a genuine purpose.

  I didn't follow our famous "meet your spouse at university" tradition, but my late husband Rob was the son of a St Andrews Professor, so we shared many special connections. We married in St Salvator's; he now lies in the Western Cemetery.

  I make frequent private visits to St Andrews, gaining solace and strength from the familiar. Should I become Chancellor, I would make those visits more public, be visible to the current students and staff, whether at Chapel on Sundays, attending debates, meeting for coffee, or in the Central for a "Friday at five" or Jannetta’s (pear is my current favourite flavour!). I've built lasting connections with the "town" as well as the "gowns" over the last 38 years. In 2023 I was elected to the St Rule Club. An initialled stone in the Quad is a permanent marker of my decades in KY16.

  While some are nostalgic for "Brigadoon", our university cannot remain frozen in time. The Laidlaw Music Centre has transformed music in St Andrews. The current Making Waves campaign reverses the (short-sighted) policy of divesting of University property. But the campaign is also about expanding our offerings in key educational disciplines, and keeping us a world-leading institution. As an historian, my own science education was woeful (joining a nuclear laboratory was a steep learning curve) but now that I work with international science students, I have a genuine appreciation for our visionary STEM research, especially in battery innovation.

  I remain eternally grateful for the departmental scholarship which funded my PhD, and my inspiring supervisor, Dr Vysny. My schoolteachers said I was not university material, but St Andrews gave me the chance to flourish and relish academic life. I became Treasurer of University Hall and chaired the Russian Society. My supportive Academic Family is still the best!

  It's time to give back to the place that made me. With no living family, St Andrews already knows it will be the beneficiary of my estate for "Ashbourne-Walmsley" scholarships for PhD students so they might echo my good fortune. During my PhD, I broke my back; a lengthy recovery taught me resilience, determination and positivity. These words, coupled with "energy", now define me and would characterise my term as Chancellor of this most special University.

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  Follow Lady Walmsley on:

  • LinkedIn: @Alex Walmsley (Ashbourne)
  • X: @alex4chancellor
  • Bluesky: @alex4chancellor.bsky.social
  • Instagram: @Alex4chancellor
  • Facebook: Alex Walmsley
  • YouTube: @Alex4Chancellor
  • TikTok: @alex4chancellor

• Nominators

  To be eligible to stand for election, candidates must be nominated by a minimum of 25 members of the General Council.

  Lady Walmsley was nominated by the following members:

  • Christina Woodhouse (née Bird)
  • Kirsty Greig (née Sanderson)
  • Richard McMullan
  • Emma Karolyi (née Foster)
  • Amanda Fleet
  • Lisa Knott (née McHardy)
  • Annabel Gregory (née Whitney)
  • Nicole Dawe (née Appel)
  • Keith Dawe
  • Moira Auchterlonie
  • Charles Ingham
  • Colette Falla (née Pennington)
  • Daryl Murray
  • Theodore Day
  • Lisa Mitchell
  • James Grant
  • Aimee Samuels (née Meens)
  • Bruce Samuels
  • Nina Brenninkmeijer (née Diekmann)
  • Emma Dolman
  • James Taylor
  • Clare Helmsley (née Croser)
  • Donald George Tait
  • Tracy Montgomery
  • Silke Gatermann
  • Corinna Peniston-Bird
  • Mary Petiet (née Blair)
  • Joanna Bellis (née Archibald)
  • Victoria Henzell (née Chapman)
  • Hugo Henzell