No sector is an island, as the saying doesn’t go. There’s no way in which the UK’s higher education story can be written without reference to the major forces of policy and politics of an inter-connected world. And so as one of the most powerful and influential people on the planet, with a particularly dominant role in shaping Europe’s politics and economics, Angela Merkel scores very highly on this year’s list.
The terms of the UK’s exit will have to be approved by the EU’s member states in some way, but nothing will be agreed without consent of Germany. We should expect the major negotiating lines for the UK’s exit of the EU, and subsequent deal-making, to be agreed with the Bundeskanzlerin. The Bundestag elections will next take place in 2017 and Merkel is said to be politically vulnerable. And so this could be a make or break year for the quantum chemist turned politician.