Appointments

University of the West of Scotland

Bob Masterton

Bob Masterton has been appointed director of the new Institute of Healthcare Associated Infection – Policy and Practice, a partnership between the University of the West of Scotland and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Dr Masterton graduated from the University of Glasgow and worked in Kilmarnock Infirmary before joining the Royal Air Force as a general practitioner, but he said that the path of his early medical career had been forged by military necessity rather than personal passion. "I'll be honest...I wanted to be a consultant histopathologist. But when I joined the Air Force, they wanted general practitioners, not consultant histopathologists," he said. He left the RAF in 1991 and joined the NHS. Since then, he has been Fellow of three Royal Colleges and chaired the UK Working Party that published guidelines on hospital-acquired pneumonia in 2008. Dr Masterton has also served, in a number of organisations, as control of infection officer and chairman of infection control committees. He said that his new role would enable him to help a large number of people. "It is immensely rewarding to be by someone's bedside and to have a positive influence in that patient’s care; to get a good outcome," he said. "But what gives me the most satisfaction now is having the ability to influence change at a national and, I would hope, international level. That's what gets me up in the morning: the ability and opportunity to improve the quality of care of patients.”

Canterbury Christ Church University

John Irving

An academic who plays period musical instruments and who has a particular passion for Mozart has been named the new head of music and professor of music history and performance practice at Canterbury Christ Church University. John Irving moves from the School of Advanced Study, University of London, where he was director of the Institute of Musical Research, on secondment from the University of Bristol, where he has been based for more than two decades. In addition to his academic research, he is also a celebrated performer on period instruments, in particular the forte­piano and the clavichord. He said his love of Mozart began at a very early age, when preparing for his first exam on the piano. "My teacher put in front of me a piece that was not written by an English composer. It was a piece by a composer who only seemed to have one name – Mozart – and playing it through for the first time made me realise that there was something about the language of this piece that was completely on a different plane to anything and everything I'd played to that point," he said. "That was the moment I realised that music was something I wanted, even needed, in my life. Mozart has never let me down since."

University Campus Suffolk

David Weir

University Campus Suffolk has appointed a noted business professor, jam-maker and poet as the head of its new School of Business, Leadership and Enterprise. David Weir, professor of intercultural management at Liverpool Hope University, said that despite being a leader in his field, he still sometimes found it hard to fully distinguish himself. "Two of my namesakes are professors in the US who write on a similar subject to me," he explained. "We sometimes get confused, but they are not me." Professor Weir, who is particularly known for his work in the field of Arab business, said he was "of an age where I can move on and do what I want. I saw the opportunity at Suffolk and I thought it looked like a very exciting place with good ideas and people." He said that some of the achievements of which he was most proud may surprise others. "I won first prize for raspberry jam at the Sedbergh Spring Show in 1974," he said. "Anyone who knows jam knows that raspberry is technically the most difficult to make. I beat all the farmers’ wives and I am inordinately proud of that." Professor Weir is also poet in residence at a folk and Irish music pub in Liverpool. "I see my poetry as an essential part of what I do," he said. "People often think business professors have got to be boring, but I don’t believe it at all."

Brown University

John Donoghue

American neuroscientist John Donoghue said he was "humbled" by his election as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Henry Merritt Wriston professor and director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science at Brown University studied for his undergraduate degree in biology at Boston University. He went on to postgraduate studies in anatomy at the University of Vermont and then took a doctorate in neuroscience at Brown. Professor Donoghue later worked at Michigan State University and the National Institute of Mental Health before returning to Brown in 1984, where he has remained ever since. He credited his award to the "amazing interdisciplinary" atmosphere at Brown. "To me, this award is a recognition of spectacular work by a large group of faculty and students in brain science here and at our collaborating institutions," Professor Donoghue said.

Other changes

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has appointed Anne Mills to the newly created position of vice director. Professor Mills is currently head of the Faculty of Public Health and Policy and professor of health economics and policy.

Leeds Trinity University College has announced eight promotions to professorships and readerships. They are: Maureen Meikle, professor of early modern history; Paul Hardwick, professor of English; Judy Donnelly, professor of nutrition education; Karen Sayer, professor of social and cultural history; Kirsteen Kim, professor of theology and world Christianity; Rosemary Mitchell, reader in Victorian studies; Hannah Hunt, reader in eastern Christianity; and Di Drummond, reader in modern history.

Newman University College, Birmingham has made two senior appointments. Elizabeth Cleaver will head Newman's learning development unit; and Frank Leishman joins as dean of the School of Human Sciences.

David Mullineaux has been named the University of Lincoln's first professor of sport science. He joins from the department of kinesiology and health promotion at the University of Kentucky.

The University of Leicester has appointed Carol Arlett to the post of manager of the School of English. Ms Arlett was previously responsible for the management of the Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre at Loughborough University.

Richard Li-Hua has been appointed professor of strategic management and development at the University of Sunderland Business School. Professor Li-Hua joins Sunderland from the University of Salford, where he was associate professor of strategic management.