Professor Ebrahim Adia, Vice-Chancellor

Professor Ebrahim Adia joined the University of Wolverhampton as Vice-Chancellor on 1 October 2023.

Formerly Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Leadership) at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Ebrahim has a national and international profile and brings to the role a wealth of experience, serving as Chair and member of a number of high-profile boards.

Ebrahim was born and raised in Bolton. He was the first in his family, and one of the few from his school to attend university, which has helped to shape his views on the role of higher education. As a result, Ebrahim has strived in both his professional and personal life to create opportunity and to help transform the lives of individuals and local communities.

Ebrahim’s academic background is in public policy and policy analysis. He taught as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Education for 18 years before moving into academic management. As the Provost for UCLan’s Burnley Campus, Ebrahim led on the development of a new campus and increased student numbers ninefold and as the Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and Transformation at the University of Bolton he helped to improve both student satisfaction and student continuation.

Ebrahim was appointed as a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Panel Member by the Office for Students which enhanced his understanding of best practice to support the development of an outstanding student experience that delivers high levels of graduate employability.

Ebrahim has worked closely with the devolved Greater Manchester Combined Authority where he held the role of deputy portfolio for Economic Strategy and Internationalisation and served as a Board Member of the Manchester Growth Company offering him excellent experience and understanding of working in partnership with public and private stakeholders to mutual benefit. He has also held a number of senior Board roles in the NHS, was appointed by the Government to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion and has served as a Rapporteur at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.