Tim was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to Higher Education and to business in the 2011 New Year’s Honours List. He is a strong advocate of the role of universities in economic development and acknowledged as one of the leading thinkers in university-business collaboration. He is currently leading an international review into university-industry collaboration that will inform the government’s higher education reforms.
He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire in September 2003, a post he held until December 2010. This was preceded by an academic career with Leeds Metropolitan, Cranfield and De Montfort universities, with periods working in French and German business schools.
As well as serving on the Board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Tim was a Board member of East of England Development Agency for six years and also Deputy Chair of the CBI Innovation, Science and Technology Committee. He has been a Trustee of the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) and is currently serving on the CIHE task force examining potential improvements in the exploitation of university research by UK business.