Action Research - Heads of Department

This is a group of university academics with department head responsibilities, who are thus responsible for managing work loads at departmental level and influencing overall departmental priorities.

The starting question for this group was:

How can we balance the competing demands on staff time to ensure that PE is embedded in the university?

The group has had its inaugural meeting in March 2010.

Members of the AR Heads of Department Group

Biographies

Anne Dawson is Associate Dean and Head of Department of Media Production and Communications at the University of Gloucestershire.  Anne read English at Exeter University and began her career as a newspaper journalist, training as a regional reporter. She then joined the BBC as a reporter at Radio Brighton and later a TV reporter and presenter at BBC South in Southampton. She then joined ITV and worked in the Midlands for 15 years, anchoring the evening news programme, a weekly politics show and other current affairs programmes. She moved into education in 2002, took an MA in Educational Research from the University of Oxford and joined the University of Gloucestershire, A Skillset Academy, in 2004.

Basma Ellahi is Head of Biology Sciences, having joined the University of Chester in 2003 to lead on developments in Nutrition education and to support the delivery of the Nutrition and Dietetics programmes leading to registration in Dietetics (commissioned by the NW Strategic Health Authority). She has over ten years' academic experience, having held teaching positions at the University of Teeside and the University of Central Lancashire before joining Chester. Basma is an external examiner for undergraduate programmes in Food, Nutrition and Health at the University of Huddersfield, and Nutrition and Dietetics at the London Metropolitan University, and for the MSc in Nutrition Obesity and Health, University of Leeds. She has previously held an external examining position for postgraduate programmes in food at the University of Salford. Basma has held the position of elected Chair for the North of England Branch of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, is elected Theme Leader for the Nutrition Society (Nutrition Epidemiology and Public Heath), and is an active participant in the development of a defined profession in collaboration with the Nutrition Society UK.

Andy Gillespie is a Professor of Communications Geography. He was appointed as Head of the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology in 2005 at Newcastle University. He was formerly the Executive Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS). His research expertise lies in the field of information and communications technologies and the development of cities, regions and rural areas, a field in which he also has a long-standing policy advisory interest. His research interests also encompass the interaction between transport, telecommunications and urban form.

Harriet Gross is currently Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln, which she joined in 2007. She was previously at Loughborough University, where she was Psychology Programme Director in Human Sciences among holding other administrative roles. For the past ten years she has been involved with the British Psychological Society and the dissemination of psychology to a wider public. She has been the Chair of the BPS Media and Press Committee and Deputy Chair of the Publications and Communications Board, and is currently Chair of the Parliamentary and Policy Group. She is an Associate Editor of The Psychologist. Harriet started out as a developmental psychologist interested in children with special needs. However, over time she has extended this remit from children to the lifespan more broadly and much of her work in the past ten to fifteen years has been concerned with pregnancy and with women’s health across the lifespan. In considering how people engage with their own experience and how they use that experience as a resource at differing points in the lifespan, she has more recently become interested in environmental psychology.

Graham Harris is Director of the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) at Lancaster University. Graham has worked in and around the interface between research, management and policy for more than 40 years. He specializes in trying to understand and mange the complex interactions between the environment and society; with a particular focus on water and natural resource management. After completing a degree in Botany and Ph.D in Plant Ecology at Imperial College, London in the late 1960s, Graham taught at McMaster University in Canada for 15 years where he worked on the ecology and management of the Laurentian Great Lakes. He moved to Australia in 1984 and worked for CSIRO for over 20 years where he held many senior research management and executive appointments. Graham is an advisor to a range of Universities, research agencies, private companies and government jurisdictions both in Australia, UK and around the world. He was awarded the CSIRO Chairman's Gold Medal in 1996 and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1997. In 2002 he was elected a life member of the International Water Academy, Oslo. He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in April 2003 for services to environmental science and technology. Graham has published more than 150 papers, and 3 books. His latest book “Seeking sustainability in an age of complexity” was published by Cambridge University Press in June 2007.

Martin Hewitt is Professor of History and Head of the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was previously Professor of Victorian Studies and Director of Research at Leeds Trinity and All Saints. He has served as Secretary of the British Association for Victorian Studies. His research interests are in Victorian Studies as a field, and in the cultural history of the nineteenth century city.

Professor Maropoulos holds the Chair of Innovative Manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Bath, in the United Kingdom. He is also the Director of the Global Digital Enterprise Research Laboratory, a joint Laboratory with Oregon State University, USA. Professor Maropoulos is a Fellow of  CIRP (the International Academy for Production Engineering), a  Eur Ing and a Member of the EPSRC College. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of; the "Proceedings of IMeche, part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture”, the “International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering" and the  "Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering". Prof Maropoulos is the Founder and Chair of the CIRP-sponsored International Series of Conferences in “Digital Enterprise Technology” and a member of the Scientific Committees of numerous refereed conferences. Professor Maropoulos has published 3 edited books and more than 170 refereed research papers, 52 of which in learned journals.

Alex Marsh has been Head of the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, since 2007. The School is structured around five research centres (Centre for Family Policy and Child Welfare, Centre for Gender and Violence Research, Centre for Health and Social Care, Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice, Centre for Urban Studies). The School offers undergraduate level programmes in social policy, childhood studies, and
social work with children and young people. At postgraduate level it offers both convention programmes (in Policy Research and Public Policy) and professional programmes (in Social Work and Family Therapy). Alex Marsh is Professor of Public Policy. His research activities have been focused upon British housing policy. Much of his work has been funded by UK central government. He has been a member of the Housing Studies Association Executive and has recently finished a four year period as Managing Editor of Housing Studies, the leading international journal in the field. He has been on part time secondment to the Law Commission as a visiting academic consultant since January 2006.

Paul Maropoulos, holds the Chair of Innovative Manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Bath, in the United Kingdom. He is also the Director of the Global Digital Enterprise Research Laboratory, a joint Laboratory with Oregon State University, USA. Professor Maropoulos is a Fellow of  CIRP (the International Academy for Production Engineering), a Eur  Ing and a Member of the EPSRC College. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of; the "Proceedings of IMechE, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufature“, the "International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering“ and the "Chinese Journal of Machanical Egineering". Prof Maropoulos is the Founder and Chair of the CIRP-sponsored International Series of Conferences in “Digital Enterprise Technology” and a member of the Scientific Committees of numerous refereed conferences. Professor Maropoulos has published 3 edited books and more than 170 refereed research papers, 52 of which in learned journals.

Cath O’Halloran is Head of the Department of Clinical and Health Sciences in the School of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. The department provides pre- and post registration, undergraduate and postgraduate education for midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, operating department practitioners and those seeking a career working in public health and well-being. Cath joined the University of Huddersfield in 2005 having worked at the University of Southampton as Curriculum Development Lead for the Department of Health funded inter-professional learning initiative ‘The New Generation Project’; the University of Newcastle as Education Advisor to the Postgraduate Deans for Medicine and Dentistry; and New College Durham as a senior lecturer in podiatry. Her professional background is podiatry and she holds an MSc in Rehabilitation Studies from the University of Southampton and a PhD in Education from the University of Newcastle. Her research interests are inter-professional learning in health and social care and learning and teaching in health professionals’ education.

Sue Robson is Head of the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University. She is co-Director of the LINKS into Languages NE Centre, is advisor to the Teacher Training for Burmese Teachers programme, which is funded by Prospect Burma, and is a member of Newcastle University’s Engagement Strategy Working Group (2009). Her current interests include:  the internationalization of higher education - Sue's research has explored academic perceptions of the impact of internationalization on professional lives, the student experience, the curriculum, and on learning and teaching. Sue also convenes a regional internationalization university network and is a member of Newcastle University’s Internationalization Executive Group. Sue’s interests also extend to teaching and assessing for successful learning in higher education. She is a member of the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University.  She has developed and evaluated professional development programmes for teachers in China and the UK and currently delivers an innovative teaching and learning development programme for university colleagues. She was a member of the research team that reviewed frameworks for effectiveness for the Learning and Skills Research Council (Moseley et al, 2004)

Bruce Senior is Head of Department in the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences at UWE. The department includes a rich diversity of subjects; including: public health, social work, environmental health, social policy, and the integrated children’s agenda. He previously led the social work programme at UWE until 1996 and previously worked at Sheffield Polytechnic and in various social work and management roles in London and Bristol. His academic interests focus on organisations, leadership and management.

Annette Sterr is Head of Psychology and Associate Dean for International Relations, having joined the University of Surrey as a Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuro-psychology in 2003. She held previous positions at the Universities of Konstanz, Zurich and Liverpool. Her research focuses on clinical neuroscience with particular emphasis on functional brain organization, neurological rehabilitation, and most recently sleep. A second strand of research aims to understand the neuro-modulatory effects of nutrients and hormones on cognition. Her work is/was funded by the German/Swiss Research Foundations, MRC and ESRC, as well as Charities and Industry.

Peter Stone is Head of the School of Arts and Cultures, and Professor of Heritage Studies in the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, at Newcastle University. He has published widely on heritage management, interpretation and education. Peter has worked extensively overseas and advised UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre on the development of the World Heritage Education Programme. Peter has done a number of national and international consultancies including advising the Ministry of Defence in the identification and protection of the archaeological cultural heritage in Iraq, and being seconded to the Regional Development Agency regarding the value of World Heritage Sites to the North East. Peter was Honorary Chief Executive Officer of the World Archaeological Congress between 1998/2008 and Executive Series Editor for One World Archaeology between 1999/2003. He is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Heritage Matters series; a member of the Culture Committee of the UK National Commission for UNESCO; Chair of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site Management Plan Committee; and a member of the National Trust’s Archaeology Advisory Panel; and is working on projects in China.

Leroy White is the Former Head of the Department of Management at the University of Bristol. Leroy’s main research interests are operational research, problem structuring methods, social network analysis, strategic partnerships, large group decision-making, public and community involvement, public sector working and health service management. He has worked with a range of clients including the Department of Health, local health authorities, health trusts, and the voluntary sector in both the UK and abroad. He has published a number of papers on the process of operational research, partnerships, systems thinking, large group processes, and has also had a book published (jointly with Ann Taket) by Wiley called 'Partnerships and Participation'.