As Director of Services, Mary Heaney is responsible for the strategic direction of MMU infrastructure services - campus and property services, the environmental sustainability agenda, libraries, IT support and learning and research technologies. A network of 950 professional and operational staff are employed in these areas to support and enhance the experience of students and staff.

Mary Heaney joined MMU from the University of Wolverhampton where she was Director of Learning Centres with a remit for the transformation of library and information services, open access ICT and learning support.

Half of her career has been with the BBC: she joined BBC Scotland in 1978, firstly as film librarian and then manager of library and archive services, with an attachment to the London Policy and Planning Unit before taking on the role of Deputy Head of Post-Production Facilities.

Moving into higher education, Mary was appointed Director of Administration at St Andrew’s College of Education in Glasgow (now the Faculty of Education at Glasgow University), directing all support services and serving as Secretary to the College.

She was born in Dublin and graduated in languages from University College Dublin where she also took a postgraduate Diploma in Librarianship. She holds Fellowships of the Royal Society of Arts and the Higher Education Academy.

Mary represents MMU on the Executive of Corridor Manchester, a knowledge-based partnership (comprising the two Manchester Universities, the City Council and the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) that is committed to economic growth, regeneration and innovation in the North West region. She is also a member of the Greater Manchester Environment Commission which develops strategies and infrastructure to improve the environmental wellbeing of the city region and its core environmental sustainability objectives.