Director for Research, Innovation and Skills appointed

04 June 2008

HEFCE is pleased to announce the appointment of David Sweeney as Director for Research, Innovation, and Skills.

David Sweeney takes up the post at HEFCE on 1 September. He succeeds Rama Thirunamachandran who has been appointed as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Keele University.

David Sweeney is currently Vice-Principal (Communications, Enterprise and Research) at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he has worked since 1991.

A statistician, David previously worked at two research institutes of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, developing mathematical models of plant growth before moving into senior management in the IT area. He became Director of Information Services at Royal Holloway, and served in a national role as Chair of the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association. He became Vice-Principal in 2004, with responsibility for developing Royal Holloway's research-led commercial and consultancy activities, knowledge transfer and development programme. He was a member of the Universities UK Research Assessment and Funding Options Group, and chairs the Board of West Focus.

Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive of the HEFCE, said:

'I am delighted that David Sweeney is joining HEFCE to fulfil a key senior role at a crucial time. David brings a wide experience in the research and knowledge transfer fields to HEFCE, which will be invaluable as we develop our strategy going forward.'

Page last updated 13 February 2012