Regional Director, European Union, British Council

Rosemary Hilhorst is currently Regional Director for the British Council’s European Union region. Rosemary graduated from University College London in 1975 (physics) and from Chelsea College in 1976 (PGCE integrated science). She completed the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School in 2003.

As a qualified physics/science teacher, she worked in the UK, Tanzania and Italy. Rosemary joined British Council in 1985 and has worked in London, Manchester, Sudan, Slovakia, Tanzania, Portugal and until February 2011 in Russia where she was Director British Council Russia & Cultural Counsellor for the British Embassy, based in Moscow.

In 2003, she was awarded the OBE in recognition of work on the Connecting Futures initiative which was a response to the tragic events of September 11th 2001 in New York. This work with British Council and a wide range of partners was aimed at promoting dialogue and understanding between young Muslims and non-Muslims in the UK and other countries in the Arab & Muslim world.