Leadership team: Faculty Executive Board
The Faculty Executive Board (FEB) manages our strategic priorities, policies and targets. FEB is chaired by our Pro-Vice Chancellor and is comprised of Deputy Pro Vice Chancellors, Associate Pro Vice Chancellors, Head of Departments and Professional Service Partners (HR, Finance and Global Engagement).
Pro Vice Chancellor and Deputy Pro Vice Chancellors
Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean
Professor Alexandra Gerbasi
Alex Gerbasi’s research focuses on positive and negative network ties within the workplace. She joined Exeter University in 2017 and has held several leadership positions before joining the Faculty as Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Business School.
Email: Caroline Haughian (Executive Officer) C.Haughian2@exeter.ac.uk
Email: Debbie Ironside-Smith (Senior Executive Assistant) D.Ironside-Smith@exeter.ac.uk
Email: A.Gerbasi@exeter.ac.uk
Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Business School
Professor Steve Wood
In January 2025, Professor Steve Wood joined University of Exeter in the role of Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of University of Exeter Business School. In Summer 2024, Steve concluded a five-year term as Dean of Surrey Business School, University of Surrey where he led significant improvement in teaching, research, and staff engagement metrics as well as driving performance in international rankings. He has wide-ranging experience of academic leadership, including AACSB and AMBA accreditation, Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission and developing business school strategy. He was previously Surrey Business School’s Director of Research, School REF lead, as well as Head of the Department of Marketing. Earlier in his academic career, Steve was Reader in Strategy, University of Southampton.
Email: Ophelia Lindley (Senior Executive Assistant) O.B.Lindley@exeter.ac.uk
Email: S.Wood6@exeter.ac.uk
Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Professor David Hosken
Dave Hosken is an evolutionary biologist researching sexual phenotypes, particularly those associated with sexual selection and sexual conflict. He joined Exeter University in 2004 and was previously the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Cornwall, where he is based.
Email: Justine Cole (Executive Assistant), j.cole3@exeter.ac.uk
Email: D.J.Hosken@exeter.ac.uk
Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Professor Nick Stone
Nick Stone develops novel light-based diagnostic tools to probe the disease-specific molecular composition of cells and tissues. Before joining Exeter in 2012, he spent 20 years in the NHS as a Consultant Medical Physicist.
Email: Chee Wong (Senior Executive Assistant) S.C.Wong@exeter.ac.uk
Email: n.stone@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Pro Vice Chancellors
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education
Professor Nicky King
Nicky King is passionate about interdisciplinary science education at Exeter and beyond. She champions compassionate leadership in education, innovative pedagogy and use of technology. Nicky is the chair of the Society for Natural Sciences and Principal Fellow of the HEA.
Email: Justine Cole (Executive Assistant) j.cole3@exeter.ac.uk
Email: N.C.King@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Impact
Professor Saeema Ahmed-Kristensen
Saeema Ahmed-Kristensen's research focuses on design engineering including the impact and integration of digital technologies on: creativity and cognition, data and knowledge structuring, data-driven design process to customise products and quantifying and predicting user experiences.
Email: ESE-APVC-RI@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Impact
Professor Angus Buckling
Angus works on the evolutionary ecology of microbes, primarily by studying evolution in real-time in controlled environments (experimental evolution). His research interests range from developing and testing general evolutionary ecology theory, to more applied issues (evolution of virulence, antimicrobials, biomethane production, heavy metal bioremediation).
Email: ESE-APVC-RI@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Global Engagement
Professor Stuart Bearhop
Stu Bearhop is an ecologist with a range of interests mainly related to migration and foraging ecology of vertebrates. He is a member of the Ecology and Conservation research group. He joined the University of Exeter in 2007 and is a senior fellow of the HEA.
Email: S.Bearhop@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Business Engagement and Innovation
Professor Konstantinos Chalvatzis
Konstantinos Chalvatzis has joined the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy in 2024 as the Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor for Business Engagement and Innovation.
Email: Jayne Cooksley (Executive Assistant to Prof. Konstantinos Chalvatzis) J.E.Cooksley@exeter.ac.uk
Email: k.chalvatzis@exeter.ac.uk
Heads of Departments
Interim Head of Department - Earth and Environmental Sciences
Head of Department - Engineering
Professor Ion Sucala
Ion is currently the Chair of the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer committee at Engineering Professors' Council (epc.ac.uk) and a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. Ion holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and a PhD in Social Science from University of Glasgow (UK). His research interests are focused on modelling & simulation, digital twinning and optimisation of manufacturing and supply chain processes, technology innovation, and engineering education.
Email: i.sucala@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Geography
Professor Nicola Thomas
Nicola Thomas is Professor of Historical and Cultural Geography. She has developed a body of work around craft geographies, situating contemporary and 20th-century craft practice within the broader creative economy.
Email: nicola.j.thomas@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Mathematics and Statistics
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Professor Mat Collins
Mat’s interests are in physical aspects of climate variability and change. He uses complex numerical models to understand features of the climate system such as El Niño, tropical rainfall patterns and extremes on time scales from seasons to centuries. He holds the Joint Chair Met Office Chair in Climate Change.
Email: M.Collins@exeter.ac.uk
Professor Francesca Palombo
Francesca's research is highly interdisciplinary, crossing boundaries between physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. She is internationally recognised for her research on development of Brillouin Light Scattering (BLS) spectroscopy applied in biomedical sciences, and is co-founder of the BioBrillouin network (an international network established in 2017).
Email: F.Palombo@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Economics (Business School)
Professor Loukas Balafoutas
Loukas' research interests include experimental and behavioural economics; social and economic inclusion; and asymmetric information and credence goods.
Email: L.Balafoutas@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Finance and Accounting (Business School)
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Professor Vicky Kiosse
Vicky Kiosse is Deputy Head of the Finance & Accounting department. She is an internationally recognised expert on pensions and her research spans the areas of capital market-based accounting research, corporate finance and ESG.
Email: P.Kiosse@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Management (Business School)
Head of Department - Computer Science
Professor Andrew Howes
Andrew's background is in computational cognitive science and he has previously held academic appointments in computer science, psychology and business. His research focus is on human-AI collaboration and in how the next generation of artificial intelligence technologies can be engineered so as to work with people.
Email: A.Howes2@exeter.ac.uk
Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research
Professor Jon Blount
Jon's research focusses on studies of mechanism and function in animal ecology. He has three main interests: behavioural and evolutionary ecology of animal signalling; nutrition ecology; and oxidative stress and the biology of ageing. Much of his work focuses on basic research, but he is also interested in how an understanding of mechanism and function can help tackle applied questions in conservation biology.
Email: j.d.blount@exeter.ac.uk
ESE Professional Services Leadership
Director of Faculty Operations
James Hutchinson
James Hutchinson is the Director of Faculty Operations and works closely with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean, the Faculty Executive Board and the Professional Services teams to ensure the operational delivery of the Faculty’s business plan.
Email: Debbie Ironside Smith (Senior Executive Assistant) d.ironside-smith@exeter.ac.uk
Email: j.r.a.hutchinson@exeter.ac.uk
