Profile: Dr Janet Brown, chief executive of SQA

APPOINTED to the post of SQA chief executive in 2007, Dr Janet Brown's background was in the private sector, working in science and technology.

Born in Sheffield, she attended the University of Birmingham, were she achieved a BSc in physics and a PhD in metallurgy and materials science.

She worked in the electronics sector for almost two decades, spending a considerable time in the United States with the likes of AT&T, Bell Laboratories and Motorola.

Returning to the UK to take up a post with Scottish Enterprise, she was there for five years, latterly as managing director of industries, before moving to the SQA.

Hailed for "an impeccable track record of achievement and a proven profile of business, organisational, management and leadership skills", she worked to refocus the activities of the SQA to ensure it played its part in creating a flexible, high-quality qualifications system.

During her time a chief executive, Dr Brown has stressed the need for global standards and recognition as a means to reacting to rapid social and economic changes.

A robust defender of the SQA and its relationship with teachers, she insisted last year that, at its heart, it "aims to serve learning and teaching, not drive it".

In 2008, reacting to criticism by the Institute of Directors in Scotland that a record rise in the number of passes meant there was a danger of "dumbing down" exams, she defended "strong achievements in what is a robust Scottish education system".

Married with two daughters, Dr Brown is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a governor of Glasgow School of Art.