Top academic joins Birmingham City University

Professor Alison Honour has been appointed as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University.

Professor Honour will also become the executive dean of the faculty of Arts, Design and Media at the university.

She takes up her position on 2 July 2018.

Following a career in fine arts, Professor Honour entered academia at Oxford Brookes University.

After ten years at Oxford Brookes she moved to De Montfort University as the Pro-Vice Chancellor in the faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities.

The faculty Of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University is the biggest outside London, and is home to the new £57 m Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Birmingham School of Media.

Founded in 1843, the faculty is home to the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, the New Technology Insttiute, Birmingham School of Art and the schools of English, Fashion and Textiles, Jewellery and Visual Communication.

Professor Honour said: ” I am very excited about taking on this new challenge at Birmingham City University, which has an outstanding reputation for producing creative arts graduates. The facilities at the university’s new city centre campus are as good as any you will find in industry and I can’t wait to start working with the talented staff and students whose work has already impressed me hugely.”

As well as her other duties, Professor Honour will oversee the university’s collaboration with Wuhan Textile University in China.

Professor Philip Plowden, the university Vice-Chancellor commented: ” Alison is a superb appointment for our University, with exactly the right blend of expertise, drive and passion to take our outstanding work to across the creative arts to an even higher level. This is an exciting time for our University and I know Alison will be a great asset in developing our offer right across arts, design and media, and in projecting our University’s transformation to a new audience.”