Barbara Woodward

Dame Barbara Janet Woodward DCMG OBE (born 29 May 1961) is a British diplomat and China expert.[1] She is the current Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, having previously served as British Ambassador to China from 2015 to 2020, the first woman to hold that position.

Her Excellency

Dame Barbara Woodward

DCMG OBE
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
Assumed office
6 August 2020
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byDame Karen Pierce
British Ambassador to China
In office
19 February 2015 – 7 August 2020
MonarchElizabeth II
PresidentXi Jinping
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded bySir Sebastian Wood
Succeeded byCaroline Wilson
Personal details
Born
Barbara Janet Woodward

(1961-05-29) 29 May 1961
Gipping, Suffolk, England
ResidenceNew York, United States
Alma materUniversity of St Andrews
Yale University

Woodward undertook her undergraduate degree at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, before going on to study international relations at Yale University. She joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1994 and has worked in China, Russia, the European Union and at the United Nations.[2]

Early years

Barbara Janet Woodward was born to Arthur Claude Woodward (1921–1992) and Rosemary Monica Gabrielle Fenton[3][4] in Gipping, Suffolk, United Kingdom, on 29 May 1961.[5][6] Her father served in World War II as an officer of the Suffolk Regiment, and won the Military Cross for gallantry.[7] He was later elected Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS).[3] Barbara Woodward was educated at South Lee School in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and then at Saint Felix School, a co-educational, boarding independent school in Southwold, Suffolk.[8]

Woodward was then admitted to the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 1979 and read history. She graduated in 1983 with an undergraduate Master of Arts (MA Hons) degree.[3] She taught English, first at Nankai University, and then at Hubei University, in Wuhan, China between 1986 and 1988.[1] She later learned and mastered Chinese. Her teacher in London gave her the Chinese name Wu Baina (吴百纳 Wú Bǎinà).[1] In 1988, she went on to Yale University in the United States to further her studies on international relations, and obtained a postgraduate Master of Arts (MA) degree.[2]

Diplomatic career

Woodward joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1994.[2] She served in Russia from 1994 to 1998 as Second (and later First) Secretary, and in China from 2003 to 2009, first as Political Counsellor, then across the whole United Kingdom-China relationship as Deputy Head of Mission, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics. From 2011 to 2015 she was Director General for Economic and Consular Affairs at the FCO.[2]

In February 2015 she was appointed British Ambassador to China, the first woman to hold the position. She was succeeded in September 2020 by Caroline Wilson.[9]

In 2015, in a conversation with Lucy D'Orsi, Queen Elizabeth II said that Chinese officials "were very rude to the ambassador" (referring to Woodward), during an event at Lancaster House, London.[10][11][12]

Woodward was appointed Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations by the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, in 2020.[13]

Personal life

Woodward's hobbies include sports, particularly competitive swimming and tennis. She is a member of the Otter Swimming Club in London and has previously served as its Honorary Secretary.[3]

Awards

Woodward was included in the 1999 New Year Honours list and made an Officer of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II when she was serving as the First Secretary to Moscow.[14] In 2011, she was included in the Birthday Honours and made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services to UK-China relations.[15][16] In 2016, she was included in the Birthday Honours and made a Dame Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services to UK-China relations.[8]

Styles and honours
  • Ms Barbara Woodward (1961–2006)
  • Ms Barbara Woodward OBE (1999–2011)
  • Ms Barbara Woodward CMG OBE (2011–2016)
  • Dame Barbara Woodward DCMG OBE (2016–present)

Notes
  1. "英國首位女性駐華大使履新，29年前在中國教英語" (19 March 2015)
  2. Dame Barbara Woodward DCMG OBE, profile, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. "WOODWARD, Barbara Janet" (2012)
  4. "Descendants of John Roper-269323" (13 April 2005)
  5. The Diplomatic Service List (2003), p.325.
  6. "England & Wales births 1837-2006" (retrieved on 24 March 2015)
  7. "Issue 36850", London Gazette, 19 December 1944, p.5856.
  8. Black, Don (12 February 2018). "From Suffolk to Beijing: our woman in China". East Anglican Daily Times. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  9. "Caroline Wilson appointed as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China" (Press release). Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  10. Phillips, Tom (11 May 2016). "Queen caught on camera saying Chinese officials were 'very rude'". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  11. Linder, Alex (11 May 2016). "Queen Elizabeth caught on camera saying Chinese officials were 'very rude' during Xi Jinping's visit". Shanghaiist. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  12. "Queen filmed calling Chinese officials 'very rude'". BBC News. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  13. "Dame Barbara Woodward appointed UK Permanent Representative to the UN in New York". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  14. "Supplement to Issue 55354", London Gazette, 31 December 1998, p.24.
  15. "Supplement to Issue 59808", London Gazette, 11 June 2011, p.13.
  16. "Birthday Honours 2016: Diplomatic Service and Overseas List" (PDF). UK Government. Retrieved 10 June 2016.

References

English language

Chinese language
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Sir Sebastian Wood		 British Ambassador to China
2015–2020		 Succeeded by
Caroline Wilson
Preceded by
Dame Karen Pierce		 British Permanent Representative
to the United Nations
2020–present		 Incumbent
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