Helen Sarah Rushworth, by marriage Helen Sarah Wallace, was born on 25 of June 1946. She is Professor in Contemporary European Studies and one of the major British specialist in the field. She is Fellow of the British Academy, Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George appointed by HM The Queen, member of numerous distinguished advisory, editorial and governing boards. She is actively involved in policy advisory groups in Britain and in Brussels.
She studied at the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and at the College of Europe in Bruges. After having obtained her PHD in 1975 ("The Domestic Policy-making Implications of the Labour Government's Application for Membership of the EEC"), she lectured in Manchester, Bruges, at the 'Civil Service College' and in 1985 she is Director of the West-European Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Founder and Co-Director of the 'Sussex European Institute' at the University of Sussex where she lectured since 1992 as a Jean Monnet Professor. From 2001 to 2006 she is Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence.