Chancellor

Professor Tracy Borman OBE

Lincoln-born, pre-eminent historian and bestselling author, Professor Tracy Borman studied and taught history at the University of Hull and was awarded a PhD in 1997, as well as an honorary DLit in 2017. In January 2021, she was awarded an honorary professorship from Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, and in 2020 she was made an Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. She is a Trustee of The Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust and a Patron of Lavenham Library, the Friends of Marble Hill House, Vectis Archaeological Trust and the Chalke Valley History Festival.

Tracy has also had a successful career in heritage and has worked for a range of historic properties and national organisations, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Archives and English Heritage. She is now Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust, a charity which encourages children to visit and learn from historic properties. It achieves this through initiatives such as The Sandford Award scheme, which is run in partnership with Bishop Grosseteste University and is given in recognition of high-quality heritage education. She is also joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that manages Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Banqueting House, Whitehall and Hillsborough Castle.

She is a regular broadcaster and has presented a range of historical documentaries, including Inside the Tower of London and The Fall of Anne Boleyn. She is a contributor to BBC History Magazine and gives talks on her books across the country and abroad.

Specialising in the Tudor period, Tracy's books include Elizabeth’s Women, which was Book of the Week on Radio 4, Thomas Cromwell: the untold story of Henry VIII’s most faithful servant, which was a Sunday Times bestseller, The Private Lives of the Tudors and Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him. Her latest book, which was the subject of her lecture at Bishop Grosseteste University on 30 May 2022, is Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy. She has also written historical fiction, The King’s Witch trilogy, based around the Gunpowder Plot and the court of James I.

Tracy was awarded an OBE for services to heritage in The King's Birthday Honours 2024.