Professor Wendy Loretto has been appointed as the new head of the school
Professor Wendy Loretto will commence her role as Head of the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School on 20 April. She is currently a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh Business School, where she was also the former Dean of the School.
The announcement was made by UofG on 23 February 2026, and she will be taking over from Professor Eleanor Shaw, who has been working as Head of UofG’s Adam Smith Business School since 7 August 2023. While Professor Shaw’s research influenced entrepreneurial education and policy, Professor Loretto’s research interests lie within age and employment, with a particular focus on mid-later life working.
In an interview with The Scotsman on financial wellbeing, Professor Loretto highlighted that this is a “hidden aspect of wellbeing. […] We know more than 40 per cent of older workers worry about debt issues […]”. Her research focuses on including issues such as menopause and cognitive decline in the conversation about older workers. She stressed that her research is not about extending working lives, but about allowing people to stay in work until they reach the state pension age: “We want to address the despair some people have when they don’t think their health will allow them to stay and work to state pension age,” Professor Loretto said to The Scotsman.
She argued that many workers leave employment in their early-mid 50s due to problems including musculoskeletal conditions and mental health issues, and this, to her, has impacts on specific businesses and the wider economy, as well as individuals, since “experienced people leaving the workforce several years earlier than they need to”. More recently, she has been developing AI-led solutions to support healthy ageing within the workplace.
Regarding her appointment, Professor Loretto said: “It’s an honour and privilege to be taking on this role. While we are all aware of the current challenging environment for Higher Education, I welcome the ambition and energy of Adam Smith Business School, and am excited to enhance its global visibility and recognition and to help realise the full potential of the collective talent of colleagues within it.”
Professor Sara Carter, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Social Sciences, said: “We are very much looking forward to Professor Wendy Loretto joining us as Head of our acclaimed Adam Smith Business School. Professor Loretto brings a wealth of experience to the role, and we are confident that she will play an instrumental role in building the School’s global reputation and rankings.”
The UofG’s Adam Smith Business School is named after Adam Smith, one of the University’s most famous alumni and the founding father of modern Economics. He studied social philosophy and then became Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University. Today, the School is ranked 9th in the UK in the 2026 Complete University Guide Accounting and Finance, and is among the top 100 business schools in the world according to the 2026 Financial Times Business School Rankings.
