Member Article

Newcastle University Business School appoints new director

Professor John Wilson to oversee next phase of institutional development

Newcastle University Business School has announced the appointment of its new Director, Professor John Wilson. Joining from the University of Liverpool, where he was Professor of Strategy at the Management School, Professor Wilson will officially take up the post at the Business School from 12 November.

With strong academic credentials and senior management experience within higher education, as well as an impressive track record in securing significant external research funding, Professor Wilson will now lead the Business School from its new £50m headquarters in the heart of Newcastle, home to 2800 students. Newcastle University Business School’s research expertise is helping to influence current business policy and practice and its focus on teaching core aspects of management has helped it achieve global accreditation.

At the University of Liverpool, Professor Wilson was responsible for teaching activities across the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula as Director of Programmes at the Management School, where he oversaw a trebling in postgraduate student numbers from 250 to over 700, in just three years. Previous appointments have included Director of Research at University of Central Lancashire, where he was instrumental in the last major national Research Assessment Exercise.

Over the past 20 years, Professor Wilson has submitted research papers in the US, Asia, Europe and Latin America, and is an active contributor to conferences, workshops, and seminars in his specialist subject areas of management history, international business history, and strategy. The Co-operative Group sponsors his current major project, and he is also involved in international projects looking at inter-corporate networks, bank-industry links, and technology transfer.

Professor Wilson currently edits a prominent four-star academic journal, ’Business History’, and possesses a balanced portfolio of publications across books - as author, editor and contributor - and leading academic journals.

Commenting on his appointment, Professor Wilson said:

“I am enormously enthused by both the people and facilities at Newcastle University Business School. There is no doubt my predecessors, and the current Executive Team, have laid solid foundations on which we can build an internationally renowned institution.

“I’m really looking forward to collaborating with my Newcastle colleagues in research terms, as this is an essential component in the further development of our reputation for world-class status. From a managerial perspective, I’m looking forward to applying my experience and knowledge around research, teaching, accreditation, and strategic development, in an exciting, ambitious environment.

“We have an extremely rich pool of talent at the Business School, at both academic and professional support levels. Working as a team, I have no doubt that we can continue to create something very special, and take the Business School’s profile to the next stage, internationally.”

Professor Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor, Newcastle University added: “Professor Wilson’s appointment will help to consolidate the progress that we have made at the Business School in recent years which culminated in the opening of our brand new campus last year.

“The Business School has attracted a wide and talented pool of staff and students from around the world and has established an increasingly high profile in key global markets such as India, China and the US, due to a rise in student numbers and steady growth in both research output and industry collaboration.

“I look forward to welcoming Professor Wilson to Newcastle.”

Professor John Leopold has been Acting Director since Professor Ian Clarke stepped down earlier this year, and will return to his Deputy Director role in November.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Newcastle University Business School .