New Associate Dean for Research appointed at Wrexham Glyndwr University
Date: December 2022
Promoting and facilitating the delivery of cutting-edge research which has a meaningful impact on people’s lives is the key focus for a leading Professor, who has joined the leadership team at Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Professor John Brewer has joined the university as interim Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology (FAST).
Announcing his appointment, John said: “I am delighted and excited to be joining Wrexham Glyndwr University and look forward to supporting students and colleagues in FAST and helping them to achieve their research ambitions.
“Following the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) results, this is a fantastic time to be setting out our ambitions and goals for the future, and ensuring that the university is in a great place to deliver cutting-edge research which has a genuine impact and changes lives.”
As part of his role, John will support research opportunities for the Faculty, as well as across the university by ensuring that colleagues and post graduate students have the best opportunity to develop research in their field.
He will also be focussing on helping the university to work towards applying for Research Degree Awarding Powers (RDAP), which will allow it to grant research degrees such as doctorates.
John brings with him a wealth of research and leadership experience. Most recently, John has been Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of the West of Scotland.
A Sports Science graduate and post graduate at Loughborough University, John’s first role was as Head of Human Performance for the Football Association which included a role as the fitness coach for the England team at the Italia 90 World Cup.
Subsequently John owned and managed the Lilleshall Sports Injury and Human Performance at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire, working closely with a number of national squads, as well as elite teams and athletes.
Following on from this, John left Lilleshall to become Director of Sports Science for multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, supporting the Lucozade Sport brand and commissioning research from many universities from across the world.
Previously, John has worked at the University of Bedfordshire before joining St Mary’s University London as Pro Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement, and an interim role as Deputy Vice Chancellor at Bucks New University.
In recent years, John was Chief Executive of NCUK, an education charity which provides foundation year qualifications to over 3,000 students around the world, to support their progression to university.
Professor Alec Shepley, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology at Wrexham Glyndwr University, added: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Professor John Brewer to the university. John brings with him significant research and leadership experience, and I know that he will help us in our continued drive to enhance our research offering and in turn, student experience and satisfaction.”