Professor Richard Black

Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Richard provides leadership for strategic planning, annual resourcing and budgeting processes, in line with the University’s strategy Liverpool 2031.  He also leads for the University on place and innovation, seeking to align University strategy with growth and innovation in the Liverpool City Region and is actively engaged with the University’s international joint venture campuses in Suzhou, China, and Bengaluru, India.

Richard joined the University in September 2023 having formerly been Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham from 2018-2023, and Pro-Director (Research and Enterprise) at SOAS University of London from 2013-18. His research and teaching, developed over 18 years at the University of Sussex, focused on migration, environmental change and international development, during which time he acted as advisor to the UN, as well as various governments and international organisations.

Richard is currently Honorary Secretary of the Academy of Social Sciences; a Trustee of Ashanti Development, a small development organisation working in the Ashanti region of Ghana; and a Commissioner on the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, which runs the Marshall Scholarships scheme for US students coming to the UK.