University of Southampton unveils new Faculty leadership team
The University of Southampton has introduced a new academic structure consisting of eight new Faculties. Seven outstanding individuals have been appointed to lead these new Faculties, which were launched on 1 August, with one further appointment to be confirmed.
Each of these new Deans will be responsible for delivering the research, teaching and enterprise activities across their faculty, as well as national and international engagement. They will also help lead the strategic development of the University as a whole.
The eight faculties and new Deans are:
Engineering and the Environment
Professor William Powrie, from the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment in Southampton.
Natural and Environmental Sciences
Professor Stephen Hawkins, currently Head of College of Natural Sciences and Acting PVC (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Bangor.
Physical and Applied Sciences
Professor Dame Wendy Hall, from the School of Electronics and Computer Sciences in Southampton.
Social and Human Sciences
Professor Judith Petts, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Transfer) at the University of Birmingham.
Humanities
Professor Anne Curry, the current Head of the School of Humanities in Southampton.
Medicine
Professor Iain Cameron, the current Head of the School of Medicine in Southampton.
Health Sciences
Professor Jessica Corner, the current Head of the School of Health Sciences in Southampton.
Business and Law
A Dean for this Faculty has yet to be appointed.
Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, comments: "I believe that we have appointed an outstanding new leadership team to take forward our ambitious new strategy, which seeks to build on the world-leading research and top-rated education that we already have in Southampton.
"However, at a time when public funding for teaching and research is being cut that means an even greater focus on research quality. It also means transforming the structure, quality and flexibility of our educational programmes, so that by 2012 we are offering students a much greater choice of learning options."
Notes for editors
1. Profiles and images of the new Deans are available from Media Relations on request.
2. The eight new Faculties are:
Engineering and the Environment
The Faculty will span a range of engineering disciplines, which are currently being carried out in three Schools (the School of Engineering Sciences, Civil Engineering and the Environment, and the Institute for Sound and Vibration Research). With seven University Technology Centres, world-class experimental facilities and world-leading researchers, this new Faculty is at the cutting edge of engineering research in the UK.
Natural and Environmental Sciences
Encompassing research and teaching across chemistry, biological sciences, earth sciences and ocean sciences, the Faculty makes use of world-class facilities, including the new Life Sciences building which is being opened this year, and the extensive waterfront facilities, where it works in partnership with NERC to host the National Oceanography Centre. The Faculty also hosts the EPSRC National Crystallography Service.
Physical and Applied Sciences
The Faculty includes physics, astronomy, electronics, optoelectronics and computer sciences. It will draw on state-of-the-art facilities in Southampton, including the just-completed clean rooms in the new Mountbatten Building, which are considered the best in Europe, and build on the University's world-leading research, particularly in web science and optical fibre technology.
Social and Human Sciences
The Faculty of Social and Human Sciences will span a wide range of disciplines including education, social sciences, mathematics, statistics, geography and psychology. With a focus on interdisciplinary research, the Faculty hosts three major ESRC funded Research Centres, and a host of other specialist research centres.
Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities supports archaeology, English, film, history, modern languages, music and philosophy. It contains a number of specialist centres, including the Parkes Institute for study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, the Centre for Applied Languages Research and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture. This year, following a successful fundraising campaign, the University has secured the Broadlands Archive, including the collection Lord Mountbatten's personal papers.
Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine, based at Southampton General Hospital, will work in close collaboration with the NHS, in both the training of doctors and in ground-breaking research. It will build on the University's current strengths, including respiratory medicine, cancer sciences, translational immunology, and stem cells and regenerative medicine.
Health Sciences
The Faculty of Health Sciences will bring together research and teaching in cancer, palliative and end-of-life care, active living and rehabilitation, and the organisation and delivery of care. The Faculty has a number of teaching outposts across the South Hampshire region, and is a major contributor to continuous professional development in key disciplines.
Business and Law
The Faculty of Business and Law will span a unique range of disciplines, combining together the Schools of Law and Management with the Winchester School of Art, which has extensive links with the creative industries and offers programmes in design within a business-orientated environment.
3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 22,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover of almost £400 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres, including the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease and the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute.
For further information contact:
Glenn Harris, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 3212, email: G.Harris@soton.ac.uk