Dr John McWilliams
ACIM, M.A., Ph.D.(Bristol)
Expertise
Engaging the University with external partners of all kinds - from large and small businesses to community organisations - for mutual, long-term benefit and with a focus on research and enterprise activity.
Current positions
Director of Civic and Alumni Engagement
Global Engagement
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
I have an academic background in the Arts - PhD (Bristol), then research and university teaching in English Literature at three universities - before I moved into University management with a specialism on external engagement.
After my first management job for the University of Bath, I returned to the University of Bristol to work in the Faculty of Engineering, where I set up the Industrial Liaison Office. I subsequently moved to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law to set up a parallel office there - the Professional Liaison Network - before becoming Director of Business and Civic Engagement in the central Research and Enterprise Division of the University.
This role involves responsibility for four university-wide teams, each specialist in a different aspect of external engagement: Public Engagement; Policy Engagement; Research and Enterprise Partnerships; and Research and Enterprise Programmes. Working closely together as part of the Business and Civic Engagement remit, these teams ensure that we are engaging with all forms of partners for mutual benefit and driving forward strategic programmes of work to meet major future challenges.
A substantial recent piece of work I have been engaged with is working with colleagues across the institution (and with partners) to develop a new pillar of the University's strategy: 'the transformative power of the global civic university'. I am co-lead of the research and civic workstream of the University's Anti-Racism Steering Group, and Chair the cross-University Business and Civic Engagement Network.
After my first management job for the University of Bath, I returned to the University of Bristol to work in the Faculty of Engineering, where I set up the Industrial Liaison Office. I subsequently moved to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law to set up a parallel office there - the Professional Liaison Network - before becoming Director of Business and Civic Engagement in the central Research and Enterprise Division of the University.
This role involves responsibility for four university-wide teams, each specialist in a different aspect of external engagement: Public Engagement; Policy Engagement; Research and Enterprise Partnerships; and Research and Enterprise Programmes. Working closely together as part of the Business and Civic Engagement remit, these teams ensure that we are engaging with all forms of partners for mutual benefit and driving forward strategic programmes of work to meet major future challenges.
A substantial recent piece of work I have been engaged with is working with colleagues across the institution (and with partners) to develop a new pillar of the University's strategy: 'the transformative power of the global civic university'. I am co-lead of the research and civic workstream of the University's Anti-Racism Steering Group, and Chair the cross-University Business and Civic Engagement Network.