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: Vanessa Leatherdale (Senior Administrator) V.J.Leatherdale@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 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: Helen Wonnacott (Senior Administrator) H.D.Wonnacott@exeter.ac.uk
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
Head of Department - Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor James Scourse
James Scourse, Head of Department and Professor of Earth System Sciences, moved to the University of Exeter in 2017 after more than three decades at The School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University (North Wales). He is a marine geologist and leads a research group using both sedimentary and biological archives to understand mechanisms and feedback responses in the Earth’s climate system.
Email: J.Scourse@exeter.ac.uk
Head of Department - Ecology and Conservation
Professor Dave Hodgson
Dave is a quantitative ecologist, with key interests in demography, life history evolution, conservation, wildlife disease, and the interplay between ecological and evolutionary dynamics.
Head of Department - Engineering
Professor Ion Sucala
Ion is vice-chair of the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer committee at Engineering Professors' Council and a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. His research interests are focused on modelling, simulation, digital twinning and optimisation of manufacturing processes, technology innovation and entrepreneurship, industrial organisation management, 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
Head of Department - Physics and Astronomy
Professor Tim Harries
Tim's research concerns the formation of stars from molecular clouds to protoplanetary discs.
Email: T.J.Harries@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 - Management (Business School)
Professor Stefano Pascucci
Stefano is a social scientist interested in sustainability connected to organization theories, innovation management, entrepreneurship and value chain analysis.
Email: s.pascucci@exeter.ac.uk
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
Director of the Environment and Sustainability Institute
Professor Camille Bonneaud
Camille's research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of host-pathogen interactions in natural populations, mainly of birds. She is particularly interested in understanding how emerging infectious pathogens jump into new host species and how they subsequently adapt to these novel host environments, as well as how host resistance/tolerance evolves.
Email: esidirector@exeter.ac.uk
Camille's profile | Environment and Sustainability Institute website
Professor Aline Villavicencio
Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Director of the Global Systems Institute
Professor Peter Cox
Peter is a professor of climate system dynamics and was a lead author on the last three Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Email: P.M.Cox@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
Deputy Director of Faculty Operations
Matt Davey
Matt is the Deputy 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: m.l.davey@exeter.ac.uk
Deputy Director of Faculty Operations
Senior Executive Assistant
ESE Business Partners
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Senior HR Business Partner
Strategic Marketing Partner
Head of Finance
