University Alliance, UK. John has been elected as the new Chair of University Alliance, the mission group representing Britain’s universities for cities and regions. John is also Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Coventry University – a position he took up in 2014. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Business Development at the university for eight years. John is a Board Member on Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and played a key role in the West Midlands Combined Universities initiative, focused on the regional leadership and civic role of universities. He took over the role of UA chair from Steve West, Vice-Chancellor of UWE Bristol.