University News Last updated 08 March
Birmingham City University (BCU) has appointed Professor Harris Beider as its new Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) Engagement, Enterprise and Innovation.
Currently Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Engagement at the University of Bradford, Professor Beider returns to BCU after spells as the University’s Head of the School of Social Sciences and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences.
He takes up his new position on 7 May.
BCU Vice-Chancellor Professor David Mba welcomed Professor Beider’s appointment, describing him as the “outstanding candidate from an extremely strong field”.
Professor Mba continued: “BCU is powerful anchor institution in our region and Harris will be instrumental in maximising our potential, building partnerships and advancing our reputation for entrepreneurship and innovation.
“His knowledge and experience will prove vital to our executive team and to our plans to develop the BCU 2030 and Beyond strategy.”
Professor Beider said: “I’m enormously pleased to be appointed to such a crucial role, one with such a huge capacity to build on BCU’s significant regional impact.
“Returning to Birmingham is hugely exciting - and taking on this new role at BCU, joining the institution’s ambitious new leadership team, is even more so. I have had an amazing time at the University of Bradford but coming back to BCU and Birmingham proved too compelling.
“Proactive engagement with stakeholders, businesses and communities will form the core of the BCU 2030 strategy, so I’m eager to get to work on raising our profile within Birmingham and beyond, exerting our considerable influence in order to effect positive change.”
Professor Beider’s career has included roles at the University of Birmingham, where he was Senior Fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, and at Coventry University as Professor and founding Academic Director of the Institute of Community Cohesion.
He has also worked in the USA, as a Visiting Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, where he taught on the MPA programme.
A published author whose work has featured regularly in the media, Professor Beider was led national and international research projects funded by foundations in the UK, US and Japan.
His research interests are focused on race, communities and public policy.