Des McNulty
Honorary Professor
Department of Social SciencesGlasgow School for Business and Society
Des McNulty has had a long association with Glasgow Caledonian University, having joined in 1978 and taken on various roles, including Head of the Department of Social Sciences and Director of Strategic Planning.
In 1999, he became one of the first elected members of the Scottish Parliament, serving as Minister for Social Justice and Chair of the Parliament’s Finance Committee. On leaving the parliament, he joined the University of Glasgow, where he became Dean for Public Policy and Assistant Vice Principal for civic engagement and place leadership 2016-2021.
An OECD consultant, he is Vice Chair of the Glasgow Commission for Economic Growth and a member of the Regional Economic Partnership Board. He co-chairs the city region working group on poverty, inequality and inclusion. He is a member of the NIHR-funded Glasgow Health Determinants Research Collaborative, having previously chaired the Glasgow Health City Partnership, and chairs the cross-university Academic Advisory Group which supports the city’s Community Planning Strategy Board.
He is Chair of the UKRI-funded Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub Advisory Board at the University of Birmingham. Recent publications with colleagues in Birmingham include papers on place leadership and collaboration, pride in place and university civic engagement
Des has had senior leadership roles in local government, including as Scotland’s first environment convenor, and he led the Strathclyde Water referendum, which ensured that water and sewerage services in Scotland remained under public control. He has continuing interests in water and environmental policy, while other research interests include public service reform, child poverty and HE/FE futures in Scotland.