ASPIRE Professional Recognition Pathway

Karen is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and National Teaching Fellow. She is Professor of Medical Education and committed to the highest possible quality in education and research motivated by academic work that makes a clear difference to healthcare processes and outcomes. Karen enjoys supporting healthcare practitioners to engage in scholarship, and she spends much of her work-life supporting postgraduate students and healthcare professionals to undertake research, scholarship or evaluation projects.

Alison is a senior member of the University of Exeter Medical School’s academic teaching faculty.  For over two decades she has been an integral part of the development and delivery of the School’s medical and scientific undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.  She is known worldwide for her photodynamic therapy (PDT) research, particularly for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer. As a life-long learner, Alison feels privileged to be helping to educate the next generation of NHS doctors, who continue to inspire on a daily basis.

Rob Freathy is a Professor of Education in the School of Education. Originally, he taught in secondary schools in Devon and Somerset, before completing a doctorate in Education at the University of Exeter, where he has worked ever since. At the University, he has undertaken education leadership roles at all institutional levels, including Director of Education (Graduate School of Education), Associate Dean for Education (College of Social Sciences and International Studies), and Dean for Taught Students (University). His research interests focus on religious education in schools, including legal and policy frameworks, aims, methods and contents, teacher professionalisation, and curricular and pedagogical theories and practices. He is a trustee of a local secondary school, and chair of the board of trustees for the South West Institute For Teaching.

G.J. Melendez-Torres is a public health researcher and educator with a special passion for teaching research methods, or, as he describes it, 'how to think in public health'. He holds degrees in health economics, nursing, social policy and epidemiology. In his role as Professor of Clinical and Social Epidemiology in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, G.J. leads research and teaching that seeks to ameliorate health inequalities to create healthier people, families, communities and populations, including through specific foci on child and adolescent health and on intimate partner violence. G.J. led the development of the University of Exeter’s Master of Public Health programme, which he continues to lead. He also worked during the Covid-19 pandemic to establish the evidence base for a safe return to higher education settings, through work both nationally as an attendee of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), and locally in Exeter. A particular focus of his research and teaching is involving and engaging the public in health research. As part of this, he has worked with colleagues to develop and deliver an innovative ‘co-faculty’ model that involves members of communities most affected by health inequalities as valued partners in teaching. Blending his research and teaching expertise, G.J. is the Academic Advisor for Student Health and Wellbeing at Exeter, working to develop a population health strategy for higher education contexts.

Nicola King is Principal Fellow of Advance HE and a National Teaching Fellow. She is also Associate-Pro Vice Chancellor for Education in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy. In this role, Nicola has championed compassionate leadership and developed new ways to support education and pedagogy within the faculty. She is committed to broadening student opportunities both through widening access to university and understanding predictors of success in order to address awarding gaps.

Andrew is a Principal Fellow of the HEA and a National Teaching Fellow. He is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on the Penryn Campus, where he is Co-Director for Inclusivity and Senior Tutor. His approach to education is based on student-centred learning and humanistic psychology (humanistic psychology is a perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual), as such supporting both staff and students is central to his identity as an academic.

Richard Smith is Professor of Health Economics, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Strategy Integration and Resources, and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has experience with a wide range of economic methods, including micro-, macro-, behavioural-, and political-economic techniques, applied to various areas, from health outcome assessment to antibiotic resistance. In the last decade he has especially pioneered the macro-economic modelling of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the economic analysis of the impact of trade and trade agreements on health and health care across a range of areas, and assessment of fiscal measures related to public health, including collaboration in the evaluation of the UK 'sugar tax'.

Dawn has a PhD in Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology. After working as a lecturer in Physical Geography for several years, Dawn changed career and for the past twenty years has been leading employability activity at the Career Zone. Dawn now leads the Student Employability and Development Team. This functional area is comprised of four teams totalling 45 staff, all of whom are involved in the delivery of employability and careers education, advice and guidance to students from all levels disciplines and levels of study.  

Dawn is an active member of the university’s Centre for Social Mobility, and the Deputy Chair of the Progression Working Group and sits on the Under-Represented Students Group. Recognising sustainability, social justice, enterprise and entrepreneurship as key issues that our graduates need to engage with to become the leaders of the future, Dawn has embedded these into the employability and careers curriculum. The team has won several national and international awards for the programmes we run. Dawn has mentored many Aspire applications at all levels and is a regular panel member and Chair of panels.

Damien Mansell is an Associate Professor of Geographical Information Science. His teaching philosophy incorporates teaching goals that focus on skill development and student attributes that are actively sought, in a fast-changing graduate workplace. He is passionate about developing geospatial insights, particularly in the environment and sustainability. He is Principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2020) and has won awards for his teaching on innovative applications of technology for web mapping, developing teaching tools for immersive interactive environments, and on work in educational videos. He is programme director for BSc Geography with Applied GIS and MSc Geographical Information Science and co-Director of Education and Student Experience in Geography.

Andrew McRae is Professor of Renaissance Studies in the Department of English; and Dean of Postgraduate Research and the Exeter Doctoral College until January 2024. He has previously served as Associate Dean, Education, in the College of Humanities, and Head of English. Andrew is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a fellow of the English Association, and was a member of the REF 2021 English sub-panel. He maintains 'A Head of Department's Blog' and tweets @McRaeAndrew.

Professor Tim Quine is a Professor of Earth System Science at the University of Exeter. As the Vice-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience until the end of 2025, Tim’s brief encompassed the Education Strategy commitment to Success for All our Students and encompasses the undergraduate and taught postgraduate student journey from arrival, through excellent teaching, learning and assessment, to the next stages in graduate life. Tim undertakes research in Earth Surface Science that focuses on perturbation of the terrestrial carbon cycle by soil erosion and sediment deposition and the implications for the delivery of wider ecosystem services. Over 60% of his papers have been written with international collaborators, including from universities and institutes in China, India, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand and many European countries.

Raphael Dennett is an entrepreneur, educator and adviser working across education, enterprise and public policy. He advises the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship and Office for the Impact Economy, and works with The Entrepreneurs Network and Young Enterprise. He has founded and grown businesses internationally and, as an Entrepreneur in Residence, mentored hundreds of start-ups across sectors. He chairs the International Regenerative Innovation & Entrepreneurship Partnership (IRIEP) and is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), with extensive experience designing and leading practice-based innovation and entrepreneurship education at all levels.

Alex has worked as a GP in Exeter for the last twenty years as a partner in a city centre practice. He is involved at the Medical School as a Sub-Dean, making sure the community part of the medical school programme (about 25%) runs smoothly. He is also involved in curriculum development and innovation and is course director of the Masters in Clinical Education and also Principles of Primary Care International.

Professor Greta Bosch is the Director of International Programmes. She is a member of the Taught Faculty Sub-Committee. Her research interests lie in International Human Rights Law, specifically Equality, non-discrimination and affirmative action. In 2019, Greta was awarded a Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for her sustained record of impact at a strategic level in relation to teaching and learning, and her wider commitment to academic practice.

Professor David Boughey joined the University of Exeter Business School in 2009 and in September 2021 completed a second term as Associate Dean for Education. While Professor Boughey’s primary interests have been in enhancing teaching, learning and the student experience, he’s continued his research into the firms that equipped and ran Britain’s overseas railway empire. He is currently working on an assessment of the formal transfer of railway technology between Britain and India in the 1950s.

Professor Beverley Hawkins researches and teaches in the field of leadership/management practice, learning and development; her work often focuses on how people ‘make things happen’. She is especially interested in the experiences of those leading themselves and others through times of transition, and in experiences of leadership learning and development. In 2024 Beverley became Dean for Taught Students at the University of Exeter.  She co-chairs the university's Education Board which manages regulations and policies that impact academic standards and teaching and learning experiences.

Justin Hinshelwood is an associate professor in the Renewable Energy team and he has a background in biophysics, software engineering and integration of renewable energy technologies. He has a interests in sustainable transport, microgeneration technologies, integration of renewables, fluid dynamics and computational modelling and simulation.

Prior to joining the university, Alex gained over 20 years’ management experience in both the public and private sectors. His commercial career included working in a range of diverse industries from antiques, tourism and electronics, to telecoms, trade exhibitions and education. He has worked in senior management roles and at board level in both an interim and permanent capacity for much of his career.

Maria Rosaria Marsico is presently Associate Professor of Strucural Dynamics and conducts research in Earthquake Engineering, Structural Dynamics, Structural Health Monitoring, Control Systems and Energy Dissipation.

Anna is a PFHEA, Professor of Education and Joint Founder and Director of the Centre for Social Mobility. Anna's work uses theoretical, quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research to investigate access to and progression within higher education. She is also interested in broader issues of inequality, social reproduction and skills development as well as interventions that work in supporting individuals out of cycles of disadvantage.

Nicola Thomas is Professor of Historical and Cultural Geography and Head of Geography. She has developed a body of work around craft geographies, situating contemporary and 20th century craft practice within the broader creative economy. Her approach addresses the intersection of material, historical, cultural, social, political and economic contexts through an exploration of craft makers livelihoods and the spatial dimension of their labour. Her research always attends to the historicity of cultural production and consumption, bringing a historical sensitivity to critical understandings of the cultural and creative economy.

Matt Finn explores changes in the contemporary conditions of education, and works to understand how childhood and young people's lives vary globally. He brings this to his scholarship of geographical learning and education which is informed by a participatory action research ethos. As an Exeter Education Incubator fellow Matt worked with students to research experiences of transitions to university following the introduction of the reformed A Levels in England. In a second project he explored 'online resources and narrowcasting the curriculum'. This research informs his contribution to Exeter's Transition and Induction Working Group as part of the Success for All Strategy. He works at the intersection of geography and education to connect different groups nationally, resource educators and students to further develop their capabilities, and promote more inclusive and accessible experiences of geography and higher education. In 2023, he received the Royal Geographical Society's Taylor and Francis Award for demonstrating "excellence in the practice and promotion of teaching in higher education". He is an Associate Professor of Human Geography and co-Director of Education and Student Experience.

Karen is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Professor of Musculoskeletal Imaging.  Karen has developed a number of programmes during her career including undergraduate and postgraduate provisions in radiography and healthcare.  Karen is committed high quality, innovative education and in particular research inspired education.  Karen is keen to inspire radiographers and other healthcare students and professionals to practice from the evidence base and to engage in research with an ultimate goal of improved services, diagnostics and patient outcomes. 

Vrinda Nayak is the Associate Professor in Medical Education and the Associate Dean for Taught Students (Racial Equality and Inclusion). She is the Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA, Advance HE). Vrinda is a passionate educator and contributes to education and student experience in various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Through her strategic leadership, she advocates for the success of all students, particularly those from underrepresented and marginalised communities. Her impactful initiatives, such as the Transformative Education Framework and Inclusive Education Project, have significantly improved the student experience. She is committed to fostering the success of ethnic minority students in healthcare programmes with a particular focus on any discriminatory experiences that they may face in healthcare settings.

Ewan is an Associate Professor of Geography and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is an environmental social scientist specialising in the construction of climate change and environmental knowledges, with particular interests in the role of social learning. As such, his work explores the role of people’s values and experiences in relation to contested environmental issues. Through his teaching, university and HE sector-wide work, Ewan is interested in engaging people with the climate emergency as a socio-cultural challenge, as opposed to a solely technical problem to be ‘fixed’. He advocates for meaningful debates and transformative practices in higher education to create more environmentally sustainable, accessible and inclusive learning environment.

Angela is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Associate Professor of Finance with extensive expertise in finance, programme development, and education management. As the Deputy Head of the Finance and Accounting Department and former Director of Education, she has shaped teaching excellence, curriculum innovation, and professional development within the Business School.

Angela led the creation of several transformative programmes, including the pioneering BSc Applied Finance Degree Apprenticeship, the first in the Russell Group. Her work earned professional accreditation, global recognition, and expanded employer partnerships, setting a benchmark for employer-engaged education.