Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

It is my huge pleasure this week to interview Professor Karen Cox, Vice Chancellor of the University of Kent. Karen was born in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, and grew up in the Yorkshire Dales before going to university in London to study Nursing. She talks about her parents’ background, both of whom left school at 16 and were married at 18\. Her father experienced redundancy and was involved in Trades Union activity. We discuss some of the generational differences in terms of career opportunities and how it wasn’t until Karen did her ‘A’ levels that university became an option. She talks about how she didn’t really know anyone who had even been to university and how she is fortunate that she has been able to do the things she did, but that sometimes they are shaped by serendipity. Karen has very strong early memories of Christmases including playing with boxes, and we learn that as a child she enjoyed ballet, wanting to be Margot Fonteyn, and tap dancing. She also played the trombone and loved horse ridin