Vice-Dean (Research), Faculty of Natural Sciences
Professor Riccardo Sapienza has accepted the appointment of Vice-Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Natural Sciences, for a term of five years, with effect from 1 May 2026.
Author: Sara West
Associate Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), Faculty of Natural Sciences
Professor Vincent Savolainen has accepted the appointment of Associate Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) for the Faculty of Natural Sciences, for a term of three years, with effect from 1 May 2026.
Head of the Department of Infectious Disease
Professor Aubrey Cunnington has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Infectious Disease, with effect from 1 February 2026, for a term of five years.
Head of the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction
Professor Waljit Dhillo FMedSci has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, with effect from 1 September 2026, for a term of five years.
Associate Provost (Digitally-Enhanced Learning & Teaching)
Associate Provost (Digitally-Enhanced Learning & Teaching)
Dr Sophie Rutschmann has accepted the appointment of Associate Provost (Digitally-Enhanced Learning & Teaching), with effect from 1 August 2025, for a term of five years.
Reporting to the Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience), Dr Rutschmann will lead Imperial’s strategic commitment to digitally-enhanced learning and teaching.
Head of the Department of Computing
Professor Stefanos Zafeiriou has accepted the appointment as Head of the Department of Computing for a five year term, starting from 1 September 2025.
Consuls and Proconsuls
The following Professors have been elected as Proconsuls:
- Professor David Evans
- Professor Miriam Moffatt
- Professor Jonathan Mestel
This follows the upcoming completion of their term of office as Consuls at the end of August 2025. Their term of office as Proconsuls will start on 1 September 2025.
Academic Co-Directors for Imperial Global India
Dr Elena Dieckmann and Professor Sanjeev Gupta have accepted the appointment of Academic Co-Director for Imperial Global India, with effect from 1 March 2025 for a term of three years. This is a 0.2 FTE role.
Reporting to the Vice-President (Strategic Engagement), the Academic Co-Directors will provide strategic vision, direction and leadership to the hub.
Associate Provost (Sustainability)
Professor Anna Korre has accepted the appointment of Associate Provost (Sustainability) with effect from 1 May 2025, for an initial term of five years. The role will be part-time at 0.5 FTE.
Reporting to the Provost, the Associate Provost (Sustainability) will act as a champion for sustainability across Imperial, engaging with senior leaders to drive cultural change. Together with the Director of Sustainability, Harriet Wallace, the Associate Provost (Sustainability) will co-lead the development of the current Sustainability Strategy and activities outlined in the Sustainable Imperial initiative, and the development of the next strategy.
Head of the Department of Aeronautics
Professor Rafael Palacios has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Aeronautics with effect from 1 October 2025, for a term of five years.