Dr Joan Stringer, principal of Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, is to chair the North's new Equality Commission.
The commission will replace the four existing equality bodies, the Fair Employment Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Council. Sinn Fein's equality spokesman, Mr John Kelly, said: "It is a welcome development that people are finally being appointed to the Equality Commission.
"However, Dr Stringer and her future colleagues will find themselves in an unenviable position as the remit for the commission does not extend far enough to tackle the institutional inequality which exists here."