After leaving the University of Liverpool in 1988 with a British Academy PhD in Modernist Literature, Andy wanted to make a direct difference to students’ lives, teaching the “hard to reach” in further and higher education in the UK and the USA.

The Fulbright Programme (1996, 2001) globalised this experience, after which Andy led a large School of Creative Arts, partnering the BBC, National Skills Academy, Archant Newspapers, Arts Council East, the National Theatre, and independent television companies to drive change, establishing the School as a Centre of Excellence.

In 2009 he became Deputy Dean for Partnerships and Enterprise in the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, building external income until it was in the top 25% for UK Humanities Faculties. Andy developed a network of 60+ international partners, increasing full-time staff by 500 in five years, and established a Northern European applied digital creative incubation network, which, in partnership with SONY, Jagex, and ARM, developed the EU’s largest live student games jam (Brains Eden) and launched a £1m European Regional Development funded applied gaming project, REACTOR, across medical technology, health, well-being, and SMART cities.

To support this, Andy also developed a collaboration with Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences in Design Thinking, and became a Director of Cambridge Live, including Cambridge Folk Festival.

Since assuming a post at Bath Spa as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and has had the opportunity to further develop a range of innovation projects leading to a promotion to Pro Vice Chancellor External in June 2019 and a Professorship in Creative and Social Enterprise in Spring 2020. He is currently working large joint University, local authority and business initiative, ISTART (Innovation Science Technology Arts Research Teaching), with pilot deliveries beginning this Autumn 2020.