Director of Engagement and Partnerships appointed
Engagement and partnerships are a crucial component in defining and shaping our new University strategy for 2015 to 2020 and beyond
Dr Mark Bacon, currently Director of Business Partnerships & Enterprise in Science & Technology at Lancaster University, has been appointed as the Director of Engagement and Partnerships at Keele University.
The Director of Engagement and Partnerships is a new role established to broker and manage partnerships with external business, government and community organisations, based on collaborative working with faculties, schools and other directorates across the University.
Mark has been Director of Business Partnerships & Enterprise in Science & Technology at Lancaster since May 2011. Leading a team of over 40 staff, he is responsible for the development of research and educational partnerships, student engagement, business co-location onto campus and the development and delivery of major economic regeneration projects across seven academic departments and two research centres.
Mark has secured over £30m of investment for university-business partnerships to date, including an SME-led doctoral training programme with the University of Liverpool, a European network of centres collaborating on technology transfer, an international business-partnerships programme with China, an Eco-visitor centre in Blackpool, and most recently, investment to create a new core technology facility for shared industry-academic use.
He said, “I’m delighted to be taking up this new role at Keele and excited to begin work on realising the ambitions of our partners, the university and its’ UK region. Partnerships with business, the public sector and other universities have been central to my professional life for a number of years. I am eager to continue working across these traditional boundaries and take a leading role in the further development of Keele’s significant societal impact at home and overseas."
Mark has a first degree and PhD in Biological Sciences. He is an Executive Director of Lancaster University Business Enterprises Limited and a former board director of an environmental technology sector development company. Prior to roles supporting university-business partnerships, Mark was a research scientist, working with agri-food sector businesses in the UK and overseas, including Waitrose supermarkets.
Keele University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, said: "Engagement and partnerships are a crucial component in defining and shaping our new University strategy for 2015 to 2020 and beyond, and are critical to the development and enhancement of our core academic offering and reputation. Bringing together the Research and Enterprise Support team with the Keele University Science and Business Park, the newly formed directorate will be an important interface and facilitator between the academic and business facing activities in the University."
Mark will join Keele on 2 February.