Conde Nast College of Fashion and Design

Kate Cheal

The new senior lecturer in e-learning at the soon-to-be-opened Conde Nast College of Fashion and Design said she hoped to create a technological environment that would allow staff and students to thrive. "To be offered the chance to develop and establish a digital learning environment from scratch is unique," said Kate Cheal, who will be responsible for, among other things, developing a new system for delivering online courses. She said she believed that "tangible, face-to-face education is vital if we are to truly value the learner as an individual and appreciate the need for personalised education", adding that her preference was for a blended approach. But she continued: "Higher education seems to have been slow to adopt the extraordinary potential of technologies for widening the scope of debates, for global collaboration and for maximising teaching impact." Ms Cheal gained a BMus from Royal Holloway, University of London and a postgraduate certificate in education in secondary music from Kingston University. She has been head of department in a secondary school for the past 13 years.

Leeds Metropolitan University

Jenny Share

Jenny Share has been appointed secretary and registrar of Leeds Metropolitan University. For Ms Share, who joins from Leeds Trinity University College, it is a return to an institution where she was a postgraduate student, albeit in its former guise as a polytechnic. She has considerable knowledge of local institutions, having also worked at the University of Leeds. "I was thrilled to be offered the role at an institution that is so clearly committed to its students and its wider community," she said. "I am passionate about Leeds and the Yorkshire region, having spent my student life here, so it is great to be able to take up such an exciting post and give something back to the Leeds student community." After gaining a BSc in mathematics and music from the University of Leeds, she attended Leeds Polytechnic for a postgraduate diploma in information administration. Ms Share has spent 10 years in university administration, having been senior assistant registrar at the University of Leeds and academic registrar, assistant principal and vice-principal (registrar) at Leeds Trinity. She has also been a director of the Equality Challenge Unit and of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. "I look forward to being a significant part of the infrastructure that will enable Leeds Metropolitan to achieve its goals," she added.

University of Bath

Richie Gill

The University of Bath has appointed Richie Gill professor of healthcare engineering. Professor Gill joins from the University of Oxford, where he was lecturer in orthopaedic engineering and group head (engineering) of the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre. He brings with him a wealth of experience, having worked for 12 years at the latter institution and having been a lecturer in the Nuffield department of orthopaedics, rheumatology and musculoskeletal sciences. "I am hoping that my previous experience in a clinical environment and the amount of multidisciplinary research I have done will allow me to work with those carrying out research with medical applications at Bath to identify new opportunities or potential collaborations," he said. Professor Gill took a BEng in aerospace engineering at the University of Bristol and then made the move to healthcare when he started his DPhil in engineering science at Oxford. That was followed by a two-year appointment as an assistant professor in the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at the University of Calgary. "My research and experience has combined laboratory-based research with clinical research and mathematical modelling, applying engineering methods to orthopaedic problems," Professor Gill said.

University of Leeds

Jon Lovett

Jon Lovett, who has been named the new chair in global challenges at the University of Leeds, joked that the title was a bit strange. "The advertisement did say that the holder could change (the title) - but I have not been able to think of anything better that meets the needs of the role," he said. Professor Lovett's role unites social and natural sciences to tackle urgent issues such as the energy gap in emerging economies, the huge demographic and resource changes resulting from urbanisation, climate change and loss of biodiversity. "One of the major characteristics of academia is the creation of vertical silos of know-ledge. This is important because we need specialists, but we also need to be able to horizontally integrate as well," he said. "I spent many years working in developing countries where I learned to be adaptable and to turn my hand to everything from Land Rover mechanics to economics. What I hope to be able to do in the new position is to bring people and ideas together." Professor Lovett studied botany at the University of Oxford and gained his PhD from the University of Wales, Bangor. He spent the first 10 years of his career in the field, working in places as wide-ranging as South America and Africa. He also held positions at the universities of Copenhagen and York before moving to the University of Twente.

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OTHER CHANGES

Jo Rycroft-Malone, professor of health services and implementation research in the School of Healthcare Sciences at Bangor University, has been appointed chair of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (Nice) Implementation Strategy Group. The group advises Nice about its approach and strategies for implementing its guidance on the use of drugs and treatments across the NHS, local authorities and other organisations in England and Wales.

The University of Birmingham has made three appointments to its School of Education and another at the business school. Kristj¨¢n Kristj¨¢nsson, professor of the philosophy of education at the University of Iceland, has joined as professor of character education and virtue ethics and deputy director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Values; Ann-Marie Bathmaker, professor of further education and lifelong learning at the University of the West of England, has joined as professor of vocational and higher education; and Simon Asquith, associate head of the School of Educational Partnership and Enterprise at the University of Cumbria, has joined as head of the department of professional education. They will start their roles in September. Alessandra Guariglia, professor of financial economics at Durham Business School, who also joins in September, will become professor of financial economics in Birmingham Business School's department of economics.

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Keele University has appointed Nigel Ratcliffe professor of pharmacy and head of the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Health. Professor Ratcliffe has held senior posts in the pharmaceutical industry, including global vice-president positions within AstraZeneca, working in Europe, Asia and the US. He is currently non-executive chairman of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust and also chairs the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council's appointments board.