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Professor Dame Joan Stringer first chair of Scotch Whisky Action Fund

Published:  10 July, 2014

Leading academic Professor Dame Joan Stringer, known for her work on championing equality, is to become the first chair of the Scotch Whisky Action Fund, set up to tackle alcohol-related harm.

The Fund, which was set up last year, will give £100,000 each year from 2014 to 2018 to projects aimed at combating alcohol misuse in Scotland.

Scotch Whisky Action FundProfessor Dame Joan Stringer first chair of Scottish alcohol-harm foundationStringer, a leading academic and equality champion, will chair the Scotch Whisky Action Fund, which over the next five years will donate £500,000 to projects designed to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland.

scotch Stringer is a British political scientist whose career has spanned over 30 years in higher education, most recently as principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University. She is renowned for her work on widening access and equality and the internationalisation of education. 

Stringer has held many appointments outside academia including chair of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission Working group (1998-1999), The Secretary of State's Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament, and lay member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland (2002-2007). 

She currently holds a range of non-executive board appointments and is also senior higher education adviser to the British Council. 

In 2001 she was awarded a CBE for services to higher education and in 2009 was made a Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours.  

"I believe the Scotch Whisky Action Fund will have a vital part to play in tackling alcohol-related harm across Scotland. There are many innovative projects which will benefit from the fund and I am committed to having an active role in its development and spreading the word across Scotland," said Stringer.

David Frost, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: "We are delighted that someone of Professor Dame Joan Stringer's standing and experience has agreed to become the independent chair of the Scotch Whisky Action Fund.  Alcohol brings a range of benefits to Scottish society and economy, but we realise there is a problem with misuse that must be tackled. The fund, with Dame Joan as a driving force behind it, will help in the fight against misuse."

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