Congdon was born in Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, England, in 1961.[2] She worked at Hartlepool General Hospital during secondary school, and became a nurse in 1982.[2] She studied at Teesside University in the late 1990s, while still working as a nurse.[3] She was the first person in her family to attend university, and later received a master's degree and teaching certificate from Durham University and the University of Bath.[2] After completing her studies, she worked in higher education at several institutions, becoming a department head at Teesside and director of academic delivery at Liverpool John Moores University.[4]
Congdon became the dean of health studies at the University of Bradford in 2009.[2] She was named pro vice chancellor for learning and teaching in 2011, and deputy vice chancellor (academic) in 2015.[4] In March 2019, the university announced that Congdon was appointed as vice chancellor, and she began her tenure on 1 August, succeeding Brian Cantor.[5][6] She is the eighth person, and first woman, to hold the role of vice chancellor at the University of Bradford.[5]
She was appointed to the Leeds City Region enterprise partnership board in March 2020.[7] Congdon has chaired Yorkshire Universities, a consortium of twelve universities in the Yorkshire region, since August 2020. She succeeded Chris Husbands, and is the first woman in the position.[8]
