Rate My Professor Libby Hackett

Professor Libby Hackett is Chief Executive of the Russell Group, a position she has held since May 2026. In this role she leads the Russell Group of Universities, providing representation, strategic direction, advocacy and policy development for the UK’s 24 leading research universities. She is an experienced CEO, advocate and award-winning higher education and research policy expert who has worked at the interface of government and universities for over 25 years. Libby has held senior positions in government, parliament, representative bodies, think tanks and the private sector in the UK and Australia, including most recently as Chief Executive of the Australian Public Policy Institute. She previously served as the inaugural Chief Executive of University Alliance, Director of Research at the Russell Group and Special Advisor to the Education and Skills Select Committee, as well as Deputy Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute.

Libby grew up in Somerset and studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Sydney and a Visiting Fellow in Global Higher Education Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. Her expertise lies in higher education policy and funding, and she has been recognised as one of the UK’s Education Reformers of the Year by the Education Foundation for her work promoting social mobility and access to higher education. As a third-time CEO she brings extensive experience of engaging at the highest levels of government across political parties and administrations.