In addition to her support for Speakers for Schools, she was appointed to the HE panel for the Queens Anniversary Prize in 2022. In January 2023, she was appointed by the Welsh Education Minister as the inaugural chair of the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research – a new arms length body with responsibility for the oversight, funding and quality monitoring of all post 16 provision in Wales.
She was awarded a DBE for services to higher education in the 2022 New Years Honours awards.
Julie became Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Wales on 11 April 2013, having previously held the role of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan from April 2010. Following completion of an honours degree in Economics, she worked for the Tube Investments group for ten years in a variety of management roles. She has a strong reputation of academic leadership, including merger which resulted in the formation of the University of South Wales, curriculum design, widening access, innovation, partnerships and quality. Her research interests and publications are in the fields of organisational change and collaboration within Higher Education.