Associate Professors announced

Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Nick Petford said:

Our new Associate Professors have shown outstanding dedication in their field and whether through teaching, research and enterprise or professional practice, embody aspirational qualities that echo our vision and values.

They are all fantastic ambassadors for The University of Northampton and many are working on a global platform; both sharing their knowledge and gaining increased expertise that means we, in turn, are able to offer our students the highest quality learning experience.

Professor Nick Petford

Dr Paula Antunes is now Associate Professor in Science and Technology. Paula joined the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies as a Research Fellow in 2003, progressing to Senior Lecturer in 2008. Teaching responsibilities include analytical techniques and leather science, as well as developing the MSc Leather Technology (Professional) course; a three month programme run in an intensive, blended learning format. Paula is currently building partnerships with other key leather institutions in France, Spain and Brazil. Her primary research interests centre on collagen, its modification and application in biomaterials such as wound management. She is currently overseeing the Institute of Creative Leather Technologies research group where investigations into degradable leather and water-free leather manufacture are being undertaken.

Dr Jane Callaghan has been made Associate Professor in Psychology. Jane is leading the project UNderstanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: young people living with domestic violence (UNARS) which recently won European Commission funding of 400,000 Euros. The team will join with partners in Spain, Italy and Greece as well as Women’s Aid Northampton on the project which will both research and implement new tools to help young people cope with experiences of domestic violence. Jane heads up the UNARS project whilst continuing to lead and develop teaching in child and adolescent mental health in the School of Social Sciences. Jane also leads the MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and co-ordinates the Social and Cultural Research in Psychology group.

Dr Glyn Daly has been made an Associate Professor in Politics and Sociology. Having played a central role in the development of a highly successful MA in International Relations at the University, Glyn will now be responsible for overseeing the continued expansion of the PhD programme in the areas of politics (including political philosophy) and international relations. Glyn was recently awarded an HEA grant for a new research workshop on Theoretical Perspectives in International Relations. His current research focuses on recent perspectives on so-called speculative realism with a view to deepening understanding of politics and the functioning of ideological fantasy.

Dr John Horton is now Associate Professor of Research and Enterprise, alongside his role as a geographer based in the Centre of Children and Youth. Since 2004 John has been co-investigator on 30 externally-funded research projects about children and young people’s everyday issues and experiences in diverse institutional and policy contexts. He is one of the editors of the international journal Children’s Geographies, and co-author of the books Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth (Policy Press, 2012) and Cultural Geographies (Pearson, 2013). He is currently co-investigator on the New Urbanisms, New Citizens project: a three year, interdisciplinary programme of research, funded by ESRC, which is investigating children and young people’s experiences of growing up in new, ‘sustainable’ urban developments in south-east England. He has developed and taught undergraduate modules in Human Geography at UN since 2005.

Dr Anthony Kay has been made Associate Professor in Biomechanics. Over the past nine years at UN, Anthony has developed the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, enhanced the research facilities and output in physiology and biomechanics and overseen the completion of several PhD projects. His research focuses primarily on the biomechanics and neurophysiology of the muscle-tendon complex, specifically the influence of pre-performance routines on muscular performance and injury risk.  Anthony is presently supervising several PhD projects within and beyond the University in this and related areas.

Dr Kathleen Mortimer has become Associate Professor in Marketing Communications. Kathleen has published in numerous academic and practitioner journals on the subjects of Advertising Ethics, Services, Brand Trust and Integrated Marketing Communications. She is a Chartered Marketer with the CIM and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Before joining academia she worked in the London advertising industry for almost ten years, on both the client and agency side of the business and is still very committed to maintaining close links with the industry.

Dr Jackie Parkes is an Associate Professor in the School of Health with a focus on nursing and mental health. She leads and co-ordinates the research strategy across all branches of the nursing and midwifery academic teams. Completed research projects have included exploring issues related to alcohol consumption by young people and older men, an asthma self management project, the evaluation of local service provision related to community nursing, forensic mental health care, and dementia care. She is currently the lead for public and patient involvement in research at the Centre for Health and Wellbeing Research, Co-chair of the CHWR Dementia Research Network, and the Chair of the Complex Mental Health and Learning Disability Group in the Centre. Conference presentations have included topics ranging from women and self-harm, cultural aspects of mental health care, the development of a training model for public and patient involvement in research, the evaluation of new roles and ways of working in mental health care, care pathways in early onset dementia, and pedagogical research. Jackie is a reviewer for the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health and the Journal for Nursing Research and is on the Editorial Board for Community, Society and Family. In a consultancy role she was successful in securing a regional bid for Sectoral Lead for Health & Social Care from the Lifelong Learning Network for Sustainable Communities at the University of Leicester.

Dr Ross Prior, now Associate Professor in the School of the Arts is a teacher, author, performer, producer, director, and former casting/theatrical agent. He is currently Subject Leader for the BA (Hons) Acting and BA (Hons) Drama programmes. Ross is author of a new book entitled Teaching Actors: knowledge transfer in actor training, he is the Founder Editor for the Journal of Applied Arts & Health (Intellect Publishing) and has particular research interests in training, education and applied arts and health practices. He has held a range of highly regarded posts throughout his career both within the profession and education, teaching at all levels in several countries. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Public Health and is a Member of the Australian College of Educators. In more recent years Ross has been involved in several significant government studies into actor training and arts provision in England. He is also a recipient of the University’s Teaching Fellowship.

Dr Holger Siemons has been appointed Associate Professor of Business and Economics. Holger is leading the NBS Vijyoti Employability Development (NBSVED) project in India which is working to provide employability and leadership training to University students and junior employees. Holger also teaches in Vietnam and Austria, is responsible for the Global Employability Skills Module as well as leading the Cross-Cultural Management Module that exposes students to a wide field of cross-border experiences.

Dr Victor Ukaegbu has been appointed Associate Professor in Theatre and Performance alongside his role as course leader for Drama; teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students and supervising research degrees. Victor has written widely and published research on African, Applied, Black British and Diaspora theatres, Ethno Drama, Intercultural and Postcolonial performances. He is the founding General Secretary of the African Theatre Association (AfTA), Associate Editor of African Performance Review on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Applied Arts and Health and the Africa and Middle East Board of World Scenography. Dr Ukaegbu is co-Artistic Director of Jawi Theatre Collective, which collaborates with local volunteers and professional artists, nationally and internationally.