Dianne Berry

Who is Dianne Berry?

Dianne Claire Berry, OBE, is a Professor of Psychology and Dean of Postgraduate Research Studies at the University of Reading, having previously served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Dean of Social Sciences. She joined the University in 1990 as a Lecturer, receiving a professorship in 1997.

She was awarded a first class degree in Psychology and a DPhil in Experimental Psychology. Her primary research interests are in the area of risk communication, particularly in relation to health. She also has interests and expertise in human cognition, including memory, learning, attention and decision making. She has a large number of publications, including five books. Berry is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and, in 2012, received an honorary fellowship of the British Psychological Society for an outstanding and sustained contribution to psychology.

Prior to her arrival at the University of Reading, she was a research fellow at the University of Oxford and Lecturer in Psychology at Balliol College Oxford. She also qualified and worked as a journalist for several years before beginning her academic career.

Berry is a member of Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee and chairs the Funding Council’s Research Excellence Framework Equality & Diversity Panel. In addition, she is Chair of Vitae’s External Advisory Board and Chair of its Advisory Panel to the Every Researcher Counts Project.