Professor Andrew Neely, Engineering fellow at Sidney Sussex College, has been appointed as Cambridge University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations.

This follows the resignation of Professor Nigel Slater, who stepped down from the role in November 2016. Assuming the position in March, Professor Neely will lead the University’s strategy to strengthen links with industrial and commercial enterprises in the region.

The University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, praised Professor Neely’s “impressive track record of working in higher education and with business and industry.  This will help strengthen the University’s efforts to consolidate, as well as develop, business partnerships and enterprise opportunities.”

Neely came to Cambridge as a researcher in the early 1990s, and currently heads the Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing. As Founding Director of the Cambridge Service Alliance, Professor Neely is also responsible for liaising between the University and world-leading organisations with complex service systems, including technology company IBM.

Professor Neely has prior experience of interdisciplinary work, having held the University’s first joint lectureship between the Engineering Department and the Judge Business School.

Previous appointments also include the Royal Academy of Engineering Professor of Complex Services at Cambridge, Director of the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield School of Management and Deputy Director of the Advance Institute of Management Research, the UK’s largest ever investment in management research.

Neely commented, “Universities make a difference in the world through their research, education and engagement and I am looking forward to working with colleagues from across the University to help strengthen our relationships with large and small firms alike.”