NCUK Announces John Brewer as Chief Executive Officer
Following a comprehensive recruitment exercise, NCUK is delighted to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer. Professor John Brewer BSc., MPhil., PhD., who has held roles such as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at UK universities as well as having extensive commercial experience, will join NCUK on 22 October 2019.
Starting as a sports science postgraduate researcher for Loughborough University, he joined the Football Association as Head of Human Performance in 1988. During this time, he headed the research team which developed the infamous Multistage Fitness Test, or “bleep test”, which is still widely used in sports organisations, armed forces, and schools all over the world. Due to his sports science expertise, John became a member of Sir Bobby Robson’s support staff for the England national football team at the Italia ’90 Football World Cup, and then also part of the support staff for the England cricket team at the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia.
In 1993, John established his own business which successfully delivered sports science and sports injury services for many top sportsmen and women. In 2004, he joined GlaxoSmithKline plc as Director of Sports Science, commissioning research from universities and working closely on the development of new products, whilst jointly managing almost 1000 staff and a £500 million turnover.
In 2009, John joined the University of Bedfordshire before moving to St. Mary’s University in Twickenham where he became Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement. Within this role, he worked with many international partners, established an embedded foundation year college at St. Mary’s and achieved significant growth in international student numbers. John joins NCUK after successfully completing an interim role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Bucks New University in High Wycombe.
The appointment of John Brewer, with his unique and diverse background, will complement the ambitious growth plans for NCUK whilst continuously providing a high-quality service to our partners and students.
Interested in joining NCUK’s Global Network? Click here