Dr. Kathleen O’Connor coordinates university participation in international networks on behalf of the president of the University of Lille.

Dr. O’Connor served as Vice-President for International Relations at the University of Lille 3 – Human and Social Sciences from June 2016 until the merger of the three public universities of Lille in January 2018. From 2018 to 2021, she was Deputy Vice-President and then Vice-President for International Relations at the University of Lille. From January 2022 to September 2023, she held the position of Vice-President for International Networks at the same university. From 2017 to 2022, Dr. O’Connor coordinated the international strategy of the University of Lille’s excellence initiative.

Dr. O’Connor currently oversees the University of Lille’s participation in the European University Alliance NeurotechEU, for which she serves as Chair of the Board of Governors from May 2025 to May 2026.

Dr. O’Connor holds a doctorate in English linguistics from the University of Lille. She is a member of the CNRS research laboratory Savoirs, Textes, Langage, where she focuses on language teaching and learning, in particular the role of autonomy in language learning. She is an Associate Professor of English linguistics at the Faculty of Languages, Cultures and Societies. Furthermore, she is Director of the Centre de Langues de l’Université de Lille, which coordinates the teaching of 22 foreign languages for students at the university as well as for interested members of the public.