Our staff

In SSPAL we have over 50 teaching staff, 10 administrative and five technical staff, and are managed by the School Executive.

The School is comprised of five subject departments, each offering a range of degrees.

Each department is managed by a Principal Lecturer and degrees within a department are managed by a Course Leader.

See our Staff Directory for more information.

Sport and Physical Activity

Look no further than the University of Wolverhampton for world class inspiration - our staff experts have worked with athletes including professional boxers, Olympic gold medallists, premier league footballers and referees, as well as international rugby, basketball, volleyball and netball teams.

• Adam Hawkey, senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science is a former researcher with the Biomedical Task Group at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, providing expertise to numerous astronauts/cosmonauts. A fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, he currently advises the National Space Centre on issues relating to human spaceflight.
• Professor Andy Lane is an expert contributor to BBC and SKY sporting debate. Andy is also regularly invited to offer his insight in publications as diverse as The Daily Telegraph, Nuts, Runner’s World and The Sun.
• Dr Chris Sellars is an active British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences (BASES) accredited, applied sport scientist, working primarily with elite track and field athletes. His research interests include coach-athlete relationships, the application of attribution theory and the training of sports psychologists.
• Dr Tracey Devonport’s research interests primarily lie around stress and coping, and related interventions. Other interest areas include emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and body image. She is a member of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Division for the British Psychological Society (BPS).
• Kathryn Leflay is currently Lecturer in Sport Sociology. Her research interests include sport and new media and sport role model influence. Kathryn is currently working on her PhD entitled “Beyond heroic rolemodelling: A wider social role for sports stars?”
• Nick O’Leary is the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Physical Education. He is a member of British Educational Research Association (BERA), the Association for Physical Education (AfPE) and the Basketball Coaches Association (BCA). As part of his doctoral studies, he is currently studying the influence of socialisation upon the teaching of games. An England Senior Basketball Coach and Coach Tutor, Nick has coached all levels of the National League in addition to assisting with the junior national programme and mentoring other coaches.
• Dr Gerald Griggs is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education and Sports Studies. His main teaching and research interests concern both primary Physical Education and the sociology of sport He is an active member of both the British Educational Research Association, the Association for Physical Education and the British Sociological Association.

Performing Arts

We have attracted some of the top teaching and research staff in performing arts – they have worked with, for example Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, English National Ballet, De Theatre School Amsterdam, the International Association of Dance Medicine, and the Medical Advisory Committee of Dance UK.

The experience, talent and innovation of our lecturers will help you to get the maximum value from your time with us.

Dance

• Dance Science Expert Dr Matt Wyon has developed a cutting-edge ‘pointe’ shoe for ballet dancers which moulds around the dancer’s foot to provide more support.
• Dr Vicki Thoms has published widely and currently is writing a book on Martha Graham.
• Dr Clare Lidbury’s publications are on the legacy of Kurt Jooss.
• Dennie Wilson’s research examines the interface between dance and technology giving papers on this in the US and UK.

Drama

• Head of Drama Department Dr Paul Johnson has undertaken various professional work as writer and director, and is currently working on a book with Jasmin Vardimon Company.
• Senior Lecturer in Drama, Dymphna Callery is a published author in theatre.

Music

• Kevin Stannard is Head of the Music Department and writer/composer for the Voiceworks series and Sing Up publications. He conducts the University choir and chamber choir; past finalists of Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition. He is heavily involved in school music making and appears as guest conductor with a number of choirs within the West Midlands.
• Steve Cooper is a well-established session guitarist who has performed throughout the UK and Europe with artists such as Robert Plant, Lionel Richie, Journey South and Jane McDonald. As a guitar arranger and transcriber, Steve has completed more than fifty published works including tracks by Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Morrissey, System Of A Down, Velvet Revolver, The Killers, Funeral For A Friend, Maximo Park, Nine Inch Nails and Kaiser Chiefs.
• Nigel Beer performs professionally as a trumpet player and has appeared alongside famous pop and jazz figureheads such as Jools Holland and Bobby Shew as well as being a sideman on various commercial recordings. He also maintains an interest in the latest music technology developments, gaining a college diploma in this field in the past. He also recently gained Avid Pro-tools certification and enjoys using different production software platforms to compose and record music.

Leisure Industries Management

We were ranked in the top eight providers of undergraduate tourism education in the UK (The Guardian University Guide 2005), are ranked as excellent by the Sunday Times University Guide 2008.

The teaching team bring with them a wealth of industry experience from across the world and from a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations. The team continues to deliver applied research to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of industry developments, and is active in writing textbooks that inform the teaching on this course, including: Managing Operations in the Travel Industry (2009); Research Themes in Tourism (2010); and a major new tourism textbook due out in 2011, all published by CABI.

Our staff are also experts in their field:

• Peter Robinson is Principal Lecturer and Head of Leisure Industries. Before entering academia Peter gained experience in senior management positions in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and has experience of owning and managing businesses within the leisure sector. Peter has an international publishing profile and represents the tourism and events sectors within various trade bodies and education groups.
• Dr Crispin Dale is Principal Lecturer for learning and Teaching in the School of Sports, Performing Arts and Leisure, and teaches strategic management for the hospitality, tourism, sport and events industries at undergraduate and postgraduate level in both the UK and overseas. He has published widely on strategic management for peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and has written a resource guide on strategic management for the Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism subject network of the Higher Education Academy.
• Ghislaine Povey, senior lecturer in hospitality and tourism, not only presents academic research internationally, she has also co-authored The Good Faggot Guide - a light-hearted look at the much-loved Black Country delicacy. She has appeared on UKTV Food’s ‘Great Food Live’, and has dispensed her culinary wisdom in the local Express and Star newspaper.
• Debra Wale specializes in Marketing within the department of Leisure Industries Management and is an experienced marketing professional, who has been involved in local and national marketing projects in the public, private and voluntary sectors
• Steve Gelder is a former Principal Officer for Wolverhampton City Council where he gained experience in operational management on a range of leisure venues. Steve teaches across the Leisure Industries disciplines: with a primary expertise and interest in Sport and Event management. This subject expertise is delivered in both UK and the South East Asia.
• Ade Oriade has worked internationally in tourism and hospitality and specialises in quality management in tourism. He also has special interest in tourism/hospitality career analysis and sustainable tourism development.
• Dr Paul Fallon has a strong expertise in tourism although his academic and professional background means he has a broad knowledge of the leisure area.  More recently, Paul has carried out research for the organizing committee of Chester’s ‘One Earth’ Festival and co-presented a paper at the 2009 International Event Management Summit.