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(now the National Archives). From 1984 to 1992 she was the administrator and
deputy to the director of the University of London’s Institute of Historical
Research. From 1992 to 2001 she served as Director of Special Collections at
the British Library, with responsibility for Maps, Manuscripts, Music, the National
Sound Archive, the Oriental and India Office Collections, and Philatelic
Collections. Among her professional roles during the 1990s, she was a convener
of a research seminar on Contemporary British History, served as a Vice
President of the Royal Historical Society, a governor of London Guildhall
University and Chair of the National Council on Archives. In 1989 to 1990 she
was a member of the special government committee that designed the first UK
National Curriculum in History.
In August 2001 Dr Prochaska took up the position of University Librarian at Yale
University in Connecticut, where she remained until August 2010, heading one of
the great research libraries of the world. At Yale she was a fellow of Morse
College, served on the council of the Women’s Faculty Forum, chaired the
Trustees of the Lewis Walpole Library, and served on the Board of Yale
University Press and the Advisory Council of the Yale Center for British Art.
Priorities for the Yale Library during her tenure included the development of
international collections and professional links with libraries in Africa, Asia and
Europe; work with schools and community organisations locally and globally;
and the creation of a robust digital service to the research community.
During a period of sabbatical leave prior to leaving Yale in 2010, she did
research on the subject of cultural restitution and the roots, especially in World
War II, of modern approaches to international heritage and the ownership of
cultural assets: a field with which she became familiar as a practitioner during
her period of service at the British Library, and on which she has researched and
published since then and hopes to publish more.
Alice has broadcast and lectured extensively. She remains a Fellow of the Royal
Historical Society and holds Honorary Fellowships at the Institute of Historical
Research and Royal Holloway, University of London. She also serves as a
trustee of the Institute of Historical Research and is chairman of the Sir Winston
Churchill Archives Trust.
Cilla Ross,
Co-operative College, learning and development manager. Cilla
believes that co-operatives and trade unions have shared histories, values and
outlooks, yet the links between the two movements have sometimes been
overlooked. In the role of Co-operative Learning & Development Manager at the
Co-operative College, Cilla will works primarily with trade unions to forge links
between co-operators and unions and create a powerful alternative force in
education.
“Education is a human right and it’s at the heart of any movement for change
and bettering the world,” says Cilla, on why education is so important. Driving all
of Cilla’s work is something her granddad once told her, which is that “what’s
good enough for the ruling class is good enough for the working class, whether
it’s food, trade, access to culture – you can put any word in”. However, she also
argues that currently, education is “a very unfair and unlevel playing field”.