Professor Kelleher, currently deputy vice-chancellor and chief operating officer at Manchester Metropolitan University, will start at Uclan in the summer.

Malcolm McVicar, current Uclan vice-chancellor, has said that he will stay on after the summer as interim group chief executive.

Uclan plans to adopt the new ¡°group structure¡± from August, whereby its international branch campuses in Cyprus, Thailand and Sri Lanka will be managed separately, with its vice-chancellor running only the UK university and reporting to the group chief executive.

The university is also planning to become a company limited by guarantee. That move would give it greater freedom to attract private investment, but has attracted fierce opposition from unions.

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Professor Kelleher said: ¡°I look forward to meeting and working with students and staff at this pivotal time in Uclan¡¯s development. Together there is no limit to what we can achieve in the months and years ahead.¡±??

At MMU, Professor Kelleher is responsible for areas including strategic planning, research, knowledge exchange, recruitment, marketing and the line management of deans and faculties.?

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Prior to this role, Professor Kelleher was a pro vice-chancellor at Liverpool John Moores University.? His career includes ¡°several years in the software industry in the UK and Europe working on planning, scheduling and logistics¡±, Uclan said.

john.morgan@tsleducation.com