He was formerly Head of the Performing Arts Department (1996-2004) and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Media (2004 – 2009). He gained his degrees at the University of Leeds (B.Ed. 1977 and Ph.D. 1980) and previously taught theatre arts at the University of Addis Ababa (1980 – 1985) and Bretton Hall (1985 – 1996). From 1975-80 and again from 1985-90 he taught at the New York University graduate summer school in Educational Theatre, initially as graduate assistant then adjunct professor. In 1992 he was seconded to Performing Arts at La Salle Singapore as a curricular consultant and visiting director. From 2001 to 2005 he worked closely with the Educational Drama Association of Romania, a link which is sustained by the Performing Arts Department.
In his current role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor he has oversight for Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Fair Access to the University and is Provost at its Warrington Campus. He is also the University Public Orator, addressing congregation at the conferment of honorary degrees.
He has published in Lore and Language; Folk Life: A Journal of Ethnological Studies; Studies in Theatre and Performance; Performance Research; the Journal of Popular Entertainment Studies and Contemporary Theatre Review. He has undertaken postgraduate external examining duties at LIPA; LJMU; Royal Holloway, Surrey and Warwick, worked for the British Council in Germany, Macedonia and Romania, and undertaken consultancy in Bahrain, Singapore and South Africa. He currently supervises five Ph.D. students in different aspects of performance studies.
