Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones appointed Director of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is pleased to announce that Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones has been appointed Director of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.

Professor Jones is an internationally recognised academic specialising in minority languages, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, cultural policy, media and literary translation. For over twenty years she has led international research projects and directed the work of Mercator, also home to Wales Literature Exchange and Literature Across Frontiers.

In 2017, she was appointed to the Council of Europe’s Expert Group of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages and is Vice-President of ELEN (European Language Equality Network) since 2019.

Before joining the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in 2019, she was lecturer and later Professor at Aberystwyth University where she was also Director of Welsh Language and Culture with responsibility for six academic departments, including the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies.

Professor Jones commented: “It’s a great privilege to lead CAWCS into the next period in its history. The Centre’s research and scholarly contribution are extremely important for Wales, the Celtic Countries and internationally. CAWCS stands on solid foundations and as we build on this success there are opportunities to develop new specialist fields as it consolidates its position at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. This year is the centenary of the University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language and I’m looking forward to the collaboration with staff and with the partners that are so important for CAWCS”.

Professor Dylan Jones, Deputy Vice-Chancellor said: “I look forward to working with Elin to promote and nurture the Centre's reputation for international research. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role which will see the Centre go from strength to strength and develop its areas of expertise and extend the range of international collaborative partners”.

Professor Medwin Hughes, DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University, added, "I am delighted to welcome Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones to the role of Director and to the future advancement of the Centre under her leadership. The role is central to the development of scholarship in the fields of Welsh and Celtic Studies and to increased international opportunities linked to the Centre’s research and to the Humanities portfolio based at our Lampeter campus.

“Professor Jones is a highly respected and experienced academic who takes on the role at an exciting time in our history. We will note the University's outstanding contribution to scholarship and higher education in Wales as we celebrate the centenary of the University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language this year, the bicentenary of the establishment of higher education in Wales in Lampeter and the centenary of the University of Wales Press next year. These events mark the University’s place in the shaping higher education in Wales over the past two centuries”.