Visiting Professors

Professor Peter Shaw

Peter coaches senior individuals and teams across 6 continents. He has coached in 30 UK Government Departments, 80 other public sector bodies, 25 private sector organisations, 15 Higher Education Bodies and 10 national and international Charities.’ Brings 25 years Board level experience. Peter’s clients enjoy frank, challenging conversations leading to fresh thinking and new insights. It is the dynamic nature of the conversations that provides a stimulus for creative reflection and new action. He is often assisting Chief Executives and Board members in taking on new roles and in major organisational change. He often works with teams at times of major change. In his first career Peter held a wide range of Board posts covering finance, personnel, policy, communications and delivery. He worked in five Government Departments (Treasury, Education, Employment, Environment and Transport and held three Director General posts). He delivered major national changes such as radically different pay arrangements for teachers, a huge expansion in nursery education, and major employment initiatives. Peter led the merger of the Departments of Education and Employment and subsequently the creation of the Department for Education and Skills. As Finance Director General he managed a £40 billion budget and introduced radical changes in funding and accountability arrangements. As a Director General he led strategic development and implementation in major policy areas with approaching 1,000 staff in diverse locations. Peter has written 30 influential leadership books including ‘The 4Vs of Leadership: vision, values, value added and vitality’, ‘The Power of Leadership Metaphors, ‘Leadership to the Limits: freedom and responsibility’ and ‘100 Leading through Frustration Ideas’.

Chris Harrop OBE

Chris Harrop OBE is an accomplished marketing and sustainability professional whose current roles include an executive role as ESG Strategy Director at Marshalls plc.
Chris’ persistent contribution over 20 years has ensured that Marshalls plc not only leads its sector but is also a rated world-class sustainable business with AAA rating from MSCI and being recognised as a European Climate Leader by the FT for the 2nd year running and was awarded ‘Sustainable Plc of the Year’ 3 times.

In his career Chris has been Chairman of the United Nations Global Compact UK Network, a Non-Executive Director of the Ethical Trade Initiative and numerous industry association roles. Chris is currently the Chair of Made in Britain, a Non-Executive Director of the Fairtax Mark and a trustee of the Greater Manchester Immigration Advice Unit. In 2017 Chris made the trek to the North Pole to see for himself the impact of climate change and become a better advocate for business action on climate change. In 2018 Chris was named BtB Marketing Director of the Year.

One of Chris’s proudest moments came in the 2019 New Year Honours List, when Her Majesty the Queen appointed Chris as an Officer of the British Empire, OBE for services to the Prevention of Modern Slavery and Exploitation.
Chris is passionate about sustainability and the positive role of business.

Dr Stefan Gabriel

Dr Stefan Gabriel is a world-renowned corporate venture capital professional. He is ranked 19th in the world in the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 2022. Gabriel is the CEO and Managing Director of Hitachi Ventures GmbH (Munich, Germany), the strategic corporate venture capital arm of Hitachi Group. Dr Gabriel has previously been the President of 3M New Ventures, where he worked closely with the University’s Chancellor Sir George Buckley. Dr Gabriel’s link to Huddersfield Business School stems from his time at 3M, as well as his PhD study, where he was supervised by Professor Liz Towns-Andrews OBE, Director of External Engagement at Huddersfield Business School. As well as planning to visit Huddersfield Business School to speak to staff and students as a visiting professor, Dr Gabriel is helping the School explore the growing field of global corporate venture capital and how it relates to our teaching and research.

Dr Stefano Grillini

Stefano currently works as portfolio risk manager at the EMEA headquarter of Morgan Stanley in London. He is part of the Stress testing and Portfolio risk team. Key responsibilities include Identifying, measuring, and analysing the aggregate portfolio risk for EMEA Group, including Market, Credit and Liquidity Risk. He contributes to the development of new quantitative methods to measure and manage cross-risk concentrations and stress testing scenarios, by identifying risk factors vulnerabilities across asset classes. He also serves as managing director and board member for AST SpA, a company in the hospitality sector in Italy since 2020, where he previously worked as investment strategist. Stefano is also head of the Greentech research group at FattiDiAlgos, an Italian non-profit organisation involved in the dissemination of knowledge bridging the gap between finance and AI.

Before joining Morgan Stanley, Stefano worked as full-time and associate lecturer in Economics and Finance at the University of Bradford, where he was also programme leader of the MSc Financial Management. He has teaching experience at all levels within the University, including MBA, MSc and BSc. He obtained his PhD in Finance in 2019 and an MSc in Finance from the University of Bradford. Previously, he obtained a BSc in Business from the La Sapienza University of Rome.

His research interests include empirical asset pricing, multifactor models, liquidity, and climate risk. He has a significant track record of publications in international academic journals, including the International Review of Financial Analysis and Economics Letters in the areas of asset pricing and economics. Stefano actively presented his joint research papers at international conferences, and he is currently interested in Climate risk in asset pricing models and applied econometrics research.

Professor Richard Knowles

Professor Richard Knowles, is a very experienced and accomplished researcher and educator in the area of transport and urban studies with an impeccable international academic reputation. He holds (or held) several significant posts including those of an Emeritus Professor in the University of Salford, Founding Editor of the Journal of Transport Geography and Chair of the International Geographical Union’s Research Commission on Transport and Geography. 

Professor Bob McKercher

Bob McKercher is a professor of tourism at the University of Queensland and has been a tourism academic for almost 35 years. Prior to that he worked for about 10 years in the Canadian tourism industry in a variety of operational, advocacy and management roles. He received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in Australia, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and his undergraduate degree from York University in Toronto, Canada.

He has published over 300 scholarly papers and research reports, is the author or co-author of Tourism Theories Concepts and Models, Cultural Tourism and The Business of Nature-based Tourism. He has also edited a number of other books. Professor McKercher is the Chairman of the Board of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism; the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education and, the International Academy of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research.

Professor Roger Bromley

Visiting Professor of Innovation and Collaboration

Roger is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in technology and innovation. He has kept close links with the academic sector since graduating in mathematics from the University of Cambridge and is Visiting Professor for Innovation & Collaboration, a member of the Institute for Railway Research’s strategic advisory board and works closely with the Business School.

It was through one of his companies, Smart Component Technologies, that he first got involved in the rail industry. What quickly became apparent whilst developing and implementing this technology for our rail partners, was how complex industrial innovation is compared to consumer innovation.

Inspired to solve the rail industry’s problem with innovation, he founded and continues to lead Milne Research Limited to pioneer the concept of “Innovation Infrastructures”. Over the past 5 years, MRL has won £3m from Innovate UK to develop and prove the blueprint that will transform the rail industry’s capacity for innovation.

Collaboration is at the heart of how both Roger and the University works, if you would like to explore opportunities to work together, please make contact!

Professor Kevin Orr

Professor Kevin Orr taught in Further Education colleges in Manchester for sixteen years before moving into Higher Education. He is currently a visiting professor at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the University of Huddersfield, where he was Professor of Work and Learning and an associate dean until September 2023. He was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2014 for his work in vocational education. Kevin’s research has focused on England’s Further Education sector and on policy and practice in vocational education and training more generally. He is a former editor of Studies in the Education of Adults and the Journal of Vocational Education and Training, for which he was a co-editor of a special issue in 2023 on TVET, race and ethnicity in the global south and north. Recent publications have focused on T Level qualifications and teacher education for further education.

Alper Kara

Alper Kara is a leading expert in banking and finance, blending academic leadership with real-world industry experience. He is Head of the Department of Economics, Finance & Accounting at Brunel Business School and has previously held academic positions at Loughborough University, the University of Hull, and the University of Huddersfield, where he also served as Head of Department for Accounting, Finance & Economics. Before transitioning to academia, he worked as a bond and foreign exchange trader for five years, gaining hands-on experience in financial markets and risk management.

His multidisciplinary research agenda focuses on the stability of the financial system and its impact on economic well-being. His work spans securitization pricing and performance, responsible banking, financial exclusion and access to finance, bank governance, and syndicated loan markets. He is also actively researching the implications of ESG in corporate finance and banking. With over 35 peer-reviewed publications and three co-authored books, his research has been cited by major global policymakers, including the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Beyond academia, Alper is a recognized thought leader, contributing regularly to media discussions on financial and economic matters. His insights and research have been featured in the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Euronews. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Finance and has advised the European Central Bank on securitization markets research.

With over 20 years of teaching and research experience, he designs cutting-edge programmes in banking, finance, and sustainable finance, integrating real-world financial tools into curricula. His leadership continues to shape the future of finance education and research.