It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Professor Jane Wardle, one of the UK’s leading health psychologists. She was Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre in the Faculty of Population Health Sciences at UCL and acclaimed as one of the UK’s foremost health psychologists. Jane Wardle was an OHS alumna whose move to the High School was described by her husband as a key moment in her early life, and set her on course for a successful educational and academic career. Her admission to Oxford High School was not at all conventional. She walked into the school at the beginning of one autumn term and requested to talk to the head mistress – and started at the school the next day. No shortage of courage and commitment there! Her work in the field of cancer prevention research transformed our current understanding of cancer prevention, screening, early diagnosis and survivorship. She worked on topics as varied as understanding the uptake of cancer screening, its early detection, and the acceptability of prevention methods, through to dietary behaviour and obesity. The impact of well-being in physical health featured strongly in her work and we are immensely proud to remember her life and achievements here at OHS, a school that actively encourages girls to pursue their academic dream whatever the field. As a current parent said ” Jane is an inspiration and a role model for our girls. She is a legacy of determination and courage, what Oxford High promotes to its girls. I can only imagine that our girls will be inspired by her fascinating story into their own journey.”
Read a warm tribute to Professor Wardle from CRUK and from the Guardian newspaper here.