I am delighted to announce the appointment of Professor James Bennett as Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Creative Industries). This is a significant appointment for the University as it reflects our commitment to innovation and our strengths in the ever-evolving landscape of the creative industries.
As Director of StoryFutures for the past five years, James has successfully led over £60m of research and third stream activity, including: StoryTrails: the UK’s largest ever immersive storytelling project as part of UnBoxed; Co-Directing StoryFutures Academy: UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling with the National Film & Television School (NFTS); and StoryFutures Creative Industries Cluster; as well as forming part of the leadership team of the new Collaborative Doctoral Training Programme in AI for Digital Media Inclusion. He will also be Director of the new CoSTAR National Lab announced last week.
He is the former Head of Media Arts (2014/15-2016/17) and a Professor in Digital Culture.
As Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Creative Industries), James will work in close partnership with Professor Ruth Livesey, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), colleagues in the Research and Innovation team and others involved with the new CoSTAR National Lab, part of the UK Research & Development (R&D) network for creative technology, working institutionally, locally, nationally, and globally with cross-sector partners on the development of creative industries in the UK. As part of this new role, James will also lead on embedding our creative industry strengths into research-led education across the University.
Commenting on his appointment, James said: “This role is a real honour and demonstrates the University’s deep commitment to creative industries research, education, and partnerships. Over the past five years, we have pioneered impactful R&D for the creative sector through StoryFutures and in this new role, I will ensure more of the University community can benefit from the opportunities for R&D and creative collaboration. By establishing the role as part of the new StoryFutures strategic business unit, we are building a home for interdisciplinary research and education that will help all schools and researchers achieve more than can be done alone. Within the new CoSTAR National Lab for creative industries R&D, we will drive inclusive, sustainable innovation and establish Royal Holloway as the leading creative industries university in the UK.”
Please join me in congratulating James on his appointment.
Julie
Professor Julie Sanders
Vice-Chancellor and Principal