Leading acoustical engineer appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Southampton

Professor Philip Nelson, Director of the University's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University.

A world expert in engineering acoustics, Professor Nelson has been Director of the internationally renowned Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at Southampton since 2001. He will begin his five-year term as Deputy Vice-Chancellor on 1 September 2005 and will lead on research, enterprise, and human resources.

Professor Nelson's association with the University goes back over thirty years to his student days in the 1970s, when he studied for both his undergraduate degree and his PhD at Southampton. He returned to the University in the 1980s as a lecturer and has held a range of posts including Chair of ISVR's Fluid Dynamics and Acoustics Group from 1992, and founding Director of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Gas Turbine Noise in 1999. His research contributions include work on sound generated by flow, active control of sound and vibration, acoustic source strength estimation and sound reproduction.

"I am delighted to have been selected to serve the University as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and hope that I can help to build on the strength of the University's already outstanding reputation for Research and Enterprise," he commented.

University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bill Wakeham said: "It is a pleasure to welcome Phil Nelson to the role of DVC. His contribution in his new role within the University of Southampton will be invaluable to our future success at a time of great change for the higher education sector."

Professor Nelson is Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institute of Acoustics and the Acoustical Society of America. He was awarded the Rayleigh Medal by the UK Institute of Acoustics in 2002, and the Tyndall Medal (jointly with Professor Steve Elliott) in 1992.

He served on the Panel for Mechanical, Aeronautical and Production Engineering in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise and is again serving on the sub-panel for the same unit of assessment in RAE 2008. He is also currently serving as President of the International Commission for Acoustics.