Fiona joined the Alder Hey Board in October 2019, was reappointed for a second three-year term to October 2025, and is currently serving a final 12-month term through October 2026.
Fiona is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool. She was, from 2013 – 2025, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Liverpool, representing the University in a wide range of fora and leading a number of internal developments and initiatives.
Fiona was a Professor of Law, specialising in international and EU law, in particular foreign investment law and gender equality law and policy. She has particular expertise in gender mainstreaming (that is, the idea that gender concerns should be addressed systematically in all areas and by all actors) and in how it is implemented in international institutions, the EU, and individual states. In the UK, this approach is best exemplified by the Public Sector Equality Duty, now contained in the Equality Act 2010. She published a wide range of papers on this topic and completed two studies for the European Parliament FEMM Committee, ‘A New Strategy for Gender Equality Post 2015’ and ‘The EU Budget for Gender Equality’.