As Provost for Coventry University Group, Ian is Chief Academic Officer and takes responsibility for driving the highest standards of academic excellence and supporting the leadership of the Education, Research and Enterprise & Knowledge Transfer activities across the University Group. Ian is proud to be described as a disruptor in UK Higher Education and led the development of Coventry University College in 2011. This lower cost, flexible model of higher education was specifically designed to support wide access to higher education. More recently in 2017 he led the creation of Coventry University Online. The next challenge is how online and on-campus blend to suit the individual circumstances. Ian works extensively with EdTech organisations and has chaired the publication of a number of green papers exploring ideas for the next few years. In 2016 Ian was voted 'Inspiring Leader of the Year' at the national Guardian Higher Education Awards. Ian is very engaged in his local communities and across higher education in the UK and wider.