Message from the Vice-President and Dean
28 Nov 2025
This week, Fiona reports on the Board’s visit to the Faculty, highlights a few of the many events which demonstrate our strengths and ambitions, and celebrates SoSS’s Athena Swan Silver Award.
Dear All
While we may be approaching December and the final stretch before the Christmas break, our Faculty remains as busy as ever. As I look back at some of the countless recent activities, projects and events we are leading or involved with, it reinforces in my mind our collective strengths. I continue to be impressed by the creativity, passion and ambition that define our work.
Board visit to the Faculty
Last week we had the opportunity to explore just a few of our key opportunities and challenges, and hear from some of our students, as we welcomed the University’s Board to the Faculty. Each year the Board visits a Faculty to find out more about their achievements, priorities and challenges, and to engage with students.
Over lunch, Board members spoke to inspirational postgraduate researchers from each of our Schools about their projects and their focus on impact. They then joined Students’ Union reps, Faculty Executive members and facilitators for three roundtable discussions on Canvas and its support for inclusive teaching; growing mission-driven research and innovation; and offering an attractive programme portfolio for future students.
Concluding the visit, our Students’ Union Faculty Executive Officer, Alec Severs, chaired a student experience feedback session. This allowed Board members to hear first-hand from several of our fantastic students from a wide range of backgrounds and courses on what we do well, what challenges they face, and what we can improve. It was invaluable for the Board to receive such feedback as we work together to make our students’ time with us the best it can be.
Reimagining new towns
I was pleased to join colleagues, stakeholders and members of the public earlier this month for a great example of interdisciplinarity and our role as a civic convenor. The Reimagining New Towns event explored the New Towns Taskforce report to government and how these developments can help address England’s housing challenges.
Head of SEED, Professor Khalid Nadvi, introduced the event before we heard from the Taskforce’s Deputy Chair, Dame Kate Barker, who outlined the report’s ambitious agenda for placemaking and the challenges of implementation and investment.
A panel discussion then looked at the implications of the report. Facilitated by Professor James Evans, our Associate Dean for Research, the panel included GMCA’s Director of Place, Andrew McIntosh; Cecilia Wong, Professor of Spatial Planning and Director of the Spatial Policy and Analysis Lab, Manchester Urban Institute; and Professor Philip McCann, Sir Terry Leahy Chair of Urban and Regional Economics, AMBS and The Productivity Institute. I enjoyed closing the session with some reflections on the report’s broader implications for regional development and economic growth.
AMBS 60th anniversary and Earth history book launches
From reimagining new towns, last week AMBS turned to redefining business schools with a new book honouring the School’s legacy and its bold plans for the future. It was wonderful to join AMBS colleagues and guests at the launch of Reimagining business schools for the 21st century, a collection of thought-provoking essays exploring how AMBS is preparing future business leaders with the capabilities and mindset to navigate complexity, spark innovation, and champion a more inclusive, sustainable world.
Edited by Head of School, Professor Ken McPhail, chapters were authored by AMBS academics and business leaders, and I was honoured to write the book’s conclusion with our Chancellor, Nazir Afzal. Following the launch, a dinner with supporters of AMBS, including the family of Lord Alliance, was a great success.
The evocative Fossils and Dinosaur Gallery at Manchester Museum was the marvellously apt venue for another book launch I attended last week. Professor Jamie Woodward’s latest title, A Little History of the Earth, takes readers on a journey through our planet’s earliest history to the present day.
Surrounded by specimens that tell their own stories of life and change, the event underscored the importance of connecting past, present and future in scholarship. There was an excellent Q&A where Jamie confirmed he remains positive about the future of the Earth, although it is our responsibility to be active in ensuring it is.
Martin Harris Centre hosts BRIT Awards trophy unveiling
Music, drama and fashion students had an exclusive first look at one of the UK music industry’s highest-profile prizes when they attended a special event at the Martin Harris Centre last week. As Manchester prepares to host the BRIT Awards 2026, the first time the ceremony has been held outside London, students witnessed the public reveal of the new BRITs trophy.
At the event celebrating our role as a hub for the arts and the city’s creative heritage, internationally recognised and Manchester-born designer Matthew Williamson joined guests at the unveiling of his striking, amber-coloured resin trophy design. Our involvement in the launch is just one of the ways in which we celebrate our place in the city’s culture and contribute to its vibrancy.
SoSS wins Athena Swan Silver Award
I am absolutely delighted that SoSS has recently received the Athena Swan Silver Award, recognising the School’s encouragement of and commitment to advancing the careers of women. The Award panel recognised the improved representation of women at senior levels in the School and the embedding of an inclusive and supportive culture that advances gender equality and promotes career progression. The panel also considered the expansion of the SoSS MenoSpace for menopause support to be good practice.
Securing the Silver Award is a hugely impressive achievement, and I would like to thank everyone involved in compiling the application, and everyone who puts into practice the principles of fairness and equity day-to-day, for their hard work. Congratulations!
Regards Fiona