Professor Cliff Allan
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Professor Cliff Allan joined the University as Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2010, having previously been employed as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) at Teesside University where he led work on the University’s academic strategy, education partnerships and international strategy.
As Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Allan is responsible for the development of the University’s academic portfolio and international strategy. He will also oversee the management of HR, Marketing and Student and Learning Services. He chairs the Academic Development Committee.
Before joining Teesside, he was deputy chief executive of the Higher Education Academy, having previously been its director of programmes.
Prior to the Academy's incorporation, he was the programme director of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) which was established by the UK HE funding bodies to promote excellence and transfer good practices in learning and teaching.
Preceding that, he was head of teaching and learning policy at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), developing and implementing funding policies to support learning and teaching; widening participation in HE; continuing education and graduate employability.
His HEFCE appointment followed the merger of the Universities Funding Council (UFC) and the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC), where he worked for several years.
Having started his career as a lecturer in international relations and politics he went on to work for several third world development agencies/charities, primarily developing public policy and educational programmes. He has also been a management consultant, primarily in the further and higher education sectors.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a member of the Joint Information Systems Committee that enables the UK education and research communities to engage in national and global collaborations around delivering world-class Information Communications Technology (ICT) services. He also regularly commentates on and contributes to policy issues in Higher Education.
Professor Allan is originally from Leeds and is married with two teenage children.
