Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Professor Andy Long FREng is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at Northumbria University.

In this role, Andy provides strategic leadership to the University and its staff, chairs the University Executive and is a member of the Board of Governors, and represents the University at events locally, nationally and internationally. Prior to becoming Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria, Andy served as Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nottingham, leading on strategy development and resource allocation across the University. Before that he was Dean and then Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Engineering from 2011 to 2018. Andy was also Chair of the Executive Management Group for Midlands Innovation, a partnership between the Midlands’ research-intensive universities.

Andy has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Nottingham, which was awarded for work on process modelling for the manufacture of composite materials. Prior to this, he obtained a BSc in Applied Mathematics from Warwick University and an MSc in Computer Integrated Engineering from Loughborough University, completing his dissertation project at NEI Parsons in Heaton. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Andy’s research interests are on the design and manufacture of Polymer Composites for demanding applications, particularly in the aerospace, automotive and energy sectors. Andy was Director of the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Composites, collaborating with several universities and companies in the field of high-performance composites. He has published over 350 papers including around 130 refereed journal papers, co-authored/edited three textbooks on polymer composites, supervised over 30 successful PhD students, and been principal investigator for research grants totalling around £33million. In 2006 he was awarded the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Rosenhain Medal in recognition of distinguished achievement in materials science. Andy remained involved in teaching throughout his time at Nottingham, delivering classes on advanced materials, engineering design and computational modelling.

Andy is currently Chair of Universities for North East England, a collaboration between the five institutions in our region. He is also a member of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) Board, the North East Combined Authority (NECA) Business and Economy Board, and the Newcastle City Leadership Board. In his time at Nottingham Andy was chair of the SAMPE UK & Ireland Chapter and a Director of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

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