Sandra Nutley

Professor, University of St Andrews

Graduated in 1984

After obtaining a degree in sociology and a BPhil in Latin American Studies, Sandra studied a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies - a course that was run in collaboration with the then Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) but delivered at Worcester Technical College, with teaching staff taken from both institutions.

Sandra has worked at the universities of Lancaster, Aston, Edinburgh, Queen Mary (London) and is now Professor of Public Policy and Management at the University of St Andrews, where she teaches Management of Change, Contemporary Conceptual Issues in Management, and Leadership in Organisations.

Sandra has published extensively in the areas of performance management systems and understanding and improving research use and impact in public policy and practice contexts. This, alongside her broader research interests in public management reform and managing change, have led to involvement in a number of high profile initiatives. She is Director of the Research Unit for Research Utilisation, a research collaboration that investigates the use of social science research in public policy and service delivery settings, and also serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals including Evidence & Policy, Public Administration, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, and Public Money and Management.

In 2011, Sandra received the Campbell Collaboration's Robert Boruch Award for her distinctive contribution to research that informs public policy. She has served as a non-executive member of the Social Work Inspection Agency's Management Board, chaired the Scottish Funding Council's Knowledge Exchange in Public Policy Action Group, participated as a member of the Scottish Government's Changing Lives: Practice Governance group and as an expert advisor for its independent review of regulation, audit, inspection and complaints handling of public services in Scotland.

Sandra is a member of the Public Policy and Management Association, the UK Evaluation Society and the International Research Society on Public Management. She is currently a member of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Evaluation Committee, where she advises on the evaluation of research impact.