Retirement

Announces my retirement from paid employment; includes the lovely farewell messages by my wonderful Middlesex colleaugues

Anne-Wil Harzing - Mon 15 Sep 2025 08:26 (updated Mon 15 Sep 2025 14:19)

After ten enjoyable and fulfilling years in my role as research mentor and Staff Development Lead at Middlesex University, the institutional circumstances and the wider HE sector in the UK changed considerably in 2023-2024. So I asked myself: “do I really want to spend my sixties tied down by institutional constraints in a volatile HE system?”

The answer was no. So, in October 2024, I took early retirement. I had always intended to reduce my fraction and work in part-time employment after turning 60. But beyond the changed external circumstances, there were three key reasons for giving up this idea:

For a decade my focus had been on supporting others. I longed to get back to my own research and writing projects, but in my paid employment I always struggled to put my own needs first.
I had built up a range of volunteering initiatives that demanded more time than my “day job" allowed. This includes CYGNA, Positive Academia, my blog, my YouTube channel, the Journal Quality List, the Publish or Perish software, and my Crafting your career in academia guides.
I felt the drive to transfer my knowledge and experience to younger generations before my energy runs out and I become too cynical. This also required dedicated time.

Thus, I decided to take voluntary redundancy, retire from paid employment early, and spend my time writing up all the things I had always wanted to craft, whilst also supporting Christa Sathish to develop the foundations of the Positive Academia movement. So leaving paid employment doesn’t mean that I am leaving the world of academia. If you are active on social media, you may even see more of me!

My decision meant I could end my academic employment on a positive note and continue my academic life focusing on what I am truly passionate about. I even created a seventh research programme – Transforming Academia – to capture my change in emphasis towards research on Positive Academia.

If you like to know what I have been up to over the past four decades, refer to my narrative career write-up. If you are interested in my main activities during my years at Middlesex University, see:

Farewell messages

Below I have collated the lovely messages I received from Middlesex colleagues, visually represented in the word cloud above. They largely consist of the email responses I received after announcing my retirement, but also replicate a few of the additional messages in my farewell booklet [see images].

Thank you all so much my dear colleagues for a wonderful send off; it had me glowing with pride about what we had achieved together. My truly amazing colleagues are a huge reason for why I will always treasure my time at Middlesex University as the happiest time of my academic career.

I will miss you and the work you do for our Faculty more than you'll ever know. Your expertise and commitment transformed the provision and support we have available for staff. The guidance, care, and kindness you have shown me, and all our colleagues is so important and valued, but very rare in academia.

You are, and will continue to be, a hugely important source of inspiration for me: your deep understanding of how successful research cultures are fashioned and how academic career development can be sustained points to so many lessons for Middlesex.

There are few academics who invest so much of their time and energy voluntarily in building up those who come after them, you are an exemplar of this approach and it’s one this sector desperately needs.

I cannot think of anybody who has given so much of themselves to supporting / encouraging the research activities of (both junior and more experienced) colleagues. Even more remarkably, you have continued to do so notwithstanding I know the discomfort you have felt about the changing nature of universities and the place of research within them. You have been and are a remarkable academic.

I don’t know what to say, you have been amazing, so supportive, I have never met anyone like you before…your expertise, your professionalism, your enthusiasm, everything…

I am a little bit upset with the news but wish you all the best. The next writing bootcamp whatever it is will not be the same without you. I will miss you, even though we did not have much of interaction. But you are special, you are smart, generous, and beautiful, you have all qualities that only a few people have, without any defect.

You are so humble in the abundance of collegiality and generosity of care you have offered, an inspiring academic, researcher and mentor, a productive while always cheerful and thoughtful colleague, industriously proactive for the collective good, devoted and diligent, the adjectives have no end, and they are all authentic mirroring who you are.

I want to express my sincere gratitude for all you have done for us. Your support has been immense and invaluable. I can only imagine how challenging it must have been at times to promote our research culture and help us establish a research community.

I cannot help but think of all the different times we have interacted and all the great conversations we have had through the years. Our mentoring one-to-ones lasted always longer than they were scheduled for and have always given me what I needed to hear at the time. You have also been part in all my important professional successes. You have been a mentor, a valuable colleague, a confidante, and a friend and I could not be more grateful for everything you have done for me the last ten years. So, as you are closing your Middlesex chapter, I want to wish you the next one be filled with the same inspiration and generosity you’ve given others.

You have been so dedicated to helping others realize their potential. I could witness this once again!! People speak very highly of you. You are a true role model!!

I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with you. Thank you so much for your unwavering support and encouragement. Your wisdom and generosity have touched me and many others deeply, and you will continue to make a lasting impact at Middlesex and beyond. You will be greatly missed, but I am confident we will stay in touch promoting a more positive academia for all!

It has been a privilege to have known you. Your intellect, dedication, collegiality and endless energy are inspiring. I am full of respect and admiration for what you have achieved for this Faculty.

Anne-Wil has been an extraordinary mentor during my time at Middlesex University and an ongoing source of inspiration, encouragement, and support! I had the opportunity to experience first-hand what is like to have the highest level of support and advocacy for our development needs. Anne-Wil truly makes me want to be a better academic! She also helps me face my own limitations and those of the system and reflect on what can be changed.

Thank you again for devoting all these years to producing plenty of materials to help MDX researchers (and beyond), mentoring many of us, and being an incredible emotional and professional support to me. You have created a research community in the Business School that is admirable and resilient.

Thank you, Professor Anne-Wil for all that you have done and continue to do. Since you came to MDX I have seen a positive shift in people feeling more engaged and motivated and the culture has really changed for the better. We were all in a better place thanks to you for your mentorship, your expertise and experience. You truly embody the notion of being, doing and knowing - a true professional in all respects that we can all aspire to be.

Thank you so much for everything you have done for this uni and the people working there! May you have inspired the next generation to build a better academia. Come and see us often!

I am glad that in this card you are getting a glimpse of the gratitude that so many members of staff have for the work that you have done for the University, always in a generous, professional and good-humoured way.

You have been always very kind and helping to me since I joined Middlesex. Every single time I reached out to you for anything, you did something that you could. Your commitment to development of others and being a responsible person has always amazed me.

This is very sad news for Middlesex. Your contribution to the scientific environment has been essential and it is hard to imagine how we are going to do without you. I have to thank you for your help in developing my network, connecting me with Tim, Bianca, Mariana and others, in writing my promotion application, and for your continued encouragements to do good research and promote a safe and fair academic environment.

Among all your other attributes and your massive contribution to the Middlesex community, the thing I appreciated most about you is your honesty. You may not remember, a few years ago you admitted to me that considered yourself to be an introvert. This simple observation, particularly in the face of your outgoing occupational persona made me start to come to terms with my own personae – and all for the good, as far as I’m concerned. I owe you a bigger thanks than you can possibly imagine.

To say that you will be missed is an understatement. What you have achieved at Middlesex has been brilliant and your legacy is immense. No one has developed a better reputation than you. While I understand, respect, and accept your decision, I am so sorry we are losing you during such a period of change across the HE sector.

You will be SO missed. You have helped me to develop and progress in my career. I have had your support in writing research bids, papers, and promotion applications. I have benefitted so much for the Cumberland Lodge retreats. Your commitment and excitement about research was always a breath of fresh air at Middlesex University.

Your departure is a great loss to the institution and to the Faculty in particular. On a personal level, as I moved beyond of my researcher/teacher mindset into a more active 'leadership' role, I would not have found my bearings without your sound advice and sponsorship. Aside from your support, it has been a pleasure to work with you on the various initiatives in which our paths have crossed.

Working with you has been such a pleasure and delight. It’s refreshing to work with an academic who understands and appreciates high admin standards!!

You have been performing a monumental task in inspiring and enabling research in the faculty. It must be very time consuming, but as a faculty member I have found it hugely reassuring and an important signal that research was valued by the University.

You have nourished so many colleagues, not least women and early career colleagues. Systems can become dehumanising and highly instrumental without those who dedicate themselves to constantly gardening the system with generosity of spirit as well as knowledge. The absence of such as you may never be able to be adequately articulated but its loss will be felt so deeply. It is often only in the absence of something that we come to appreciate the great value its presence had been. Be assured you have nurtured a whole generation of constant gardeners to follow your example, that is a wonderful legacy.

Retirement

Farewell messages

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