Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost - Keele University

 

 

Vice Chancellor's Office

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost

Rama Thirunamachandran

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost

r.thirunamachandran@keele.ac.uk

Telephone. 01782 733209

Personal Assistant Sheila Allen

s.a.allen@keele.ac.uk

Rama Thirunamachandran Rama Thirunamachandran became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Keele University in June 2008 and has overall responsibility for the academic activities of the University. He is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership for academic planning, budgeting and delivery through the oversight of the three Faculties. He has specific responsibility for leading the University's Internationalisation Strategy.

He was Director for Research, Innovation and Skills at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) from 2002 with overall responsibility for the strategic direction of HEFCE's research, knowledge transfer, and employer engagement and skills policies with budgetary responsibility for some £1.5 billion per annum. His responsibilities included oversight of the operation of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and the development of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). He was a senior officer at HEFCE between 1999 and 2002 variously taking responsibility for the South East region, for overseeing the whole funding operations of the Council, including the distribution of student numbers, the strategic development fund and HEFCE's regional and international policies.

Educated at Cambridge in Geography and Natural Sciences, Rama worked on a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded project carrying out research on the effects of flooding in Bangladesh bringing together his geographical and statistical expertise. His current interests are in higher education and public policy. He was on the Editorial Board of the higher education journal 'Perspectives' and has written and presented widely on a range of higher education issues.

He is currently Director and Trustee of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and Director and Trustee of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Before joining HEFCE he was Head of Research, Enterprise and External Relations at Royal Holloway (University of London) and Director of Royal Holloway Enterprise Ltd. He has also held posts at the University of Bristol and King's College London.