Andrew Jennings named professor of island studies by UHI

SHETLAND scholar Andrew Jennings has been awarded the title of professor of island studies by the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI).

Based at UHI Shetland, the UHI said professor Jennings had been picked because of his outstanding contribution to “teaching, research, academic leadership and regional impact”.

Originally from central Scotland, Jennings completed his MA and PhD at the University of Edinburgh while also training as a professional classical singer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

His varied career has included work as a BBC Radio Scotland travel broadcaster, an expert tour guide specialising in North Atlantic destinations, and the owner of an antiquarian bookshop before moving permanently to Shetland in 2007.

Jennings is described as being “an historian, linguist, folklorist and island studies scholar whose interdisciplinary work explores the heritage, culture and contemporary futures of island communities”.

He said he was “deeply honoured” to receive this title from UHI, adding it was an institution “whose values and mission I strongly believe in.”

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“My work has always been shaped by the idea that world-leading scholarship can thrive within the communities it serves,” he said.

“Living and working in Shetland has inspired both my teaching and research, and this recognition reflects not only my own work but the support and collaboration of colleagues, students and communities across the islands and beyond.

“I’m excited to continue developing UHI’s global reputation in island studies and to help build new international partnerships and opportunities from our base in Shetland.”

Professor Brian Williams, who is deputy principal academic and research at UHI, said Jennings thoroughly deserved the role.

“Andrew Jennings has established an international reputation in island studies through deeply engaged, place-based scholarship rooted in Shetland and connected across the North Atlantic and beyond,” he added.