Pro-Chancellors

Dr Jackie Cornish

• First appointed: 1 January 2021
• Current term of office ends: 31 December 2026

Biography

Dr Jackie Cornish attended the University of Bristol from 1967 to 1972, graduating with a medical degre.

She has worked for over 40 years in front line care as an NHS Paediatrician, devoting herself to the treatment of children with malignant disease. Specifically, she directed the innovative Paediatric Stem Cell Transplant Unit at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children where the use of unrelated donors for children with high-risk haematological malignancy was pioneered. The published outcomes of these transplants in Bristol set a global gold standard.

Jackie also had 20 years of Medical Management experience locally and regionally before moving to the post of National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood in NHS England in 2013; a post she held for 7 years. In this role, she advised both the government and the NHS on improving outcomes for children in all areas of physical and mental health. She has been chair of the University's Expert Advisory Group on Mental Health since 2018.

Throughout her career in Bristol, Jackie has worked closely with the Medical School to support cell biology research, particularly in the study of ground-breaking areas in childhood leukaemia. Most recently, she was instrumental in the creation of the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) and subsequent award of the delivery contract to the University of Bristol. The Reduction of Child Mortality Programme, together with the Database, is arguably her greatest achievement as National Clinical Director for Children. The NCMD, a first of its type in Europe, has been invaluable in supporting improvements in Child Mortality through its thematic reports, especially during the pandemic.

Jackie was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2014, with her oration given by Dr Esther Crawley. In June 2003, she was awarded an OBE for services to paediatric medicine.

Credit for Dr Jackie Cornish's image: Ede and Ravenscroft

Mrs Peaches Golding OBE CStJ

• First appointed: 1 January 2026
• Current term of office ends: 31 December 2028

Biography

Peaches is an American-British business executive, administrator, and former academic who has been the Lord-Lieutenant of the County and City of Bristol since 2017 and was the UK’s first minority ethnic female Lord-Lieutenant. 

Prior to this Peaches was Bristol’s first black female High Sheriff (and second only minority ethnic High Sheriff following on from a predecessor in 1818) in 2010/11.

Peaches moved to Bristol in 1983 and held several roles in marketing before founding a marketing and communications business in 1992. Since the 1990s, she has served in a wide range of roles for public and private organisation across Bristol and the wider region.

Peaches received the OBE in 2009 for services to minority ethnic people in the South West. In 2015 she was recognised for her ‘Outstanding Contribution to Business’ by the Bristol Post and Bath Chronicle. In 2020 she was awarded the CStJ (Commander of the Order of Saint John) for services to faith and humanity.

In 2018 the University of Bristol awarded Peaches an Honorary Doctorate of Law to recognise her achievements and her commitment to public life in Bristol. She has also received an honorary doctorate from UWE.