Professor Paul Gough was formerly Vice-Chancellor at Arts University Bournemouth, having moved from a role as Vice-President of RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UWE, Bristol, and is an alumnus of the Entrepreneurial Universities Leaders Programme (EULP) from 2013.

A painter, broadcaster and writer, he has exhibited internationally and is represented in the permanent collection of the Imperial War Museum, London, the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, and the National War Memorial, New Zealand. Along with leading roles in international higher education and global research assessment, his research into the representation of war and peace has been presented to audiences throughout the world. He has published nine books, including monographs on the British painter Stanley Spencer, Paul and John Nash and several comprehensive studies of art from both world wars. He worked in television for ten years and is currently writing his second book about the street artist, Banksy.