Professor Ehsan Mesbahi
Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
University Executive
Professor Mesbahi has a wealth of strategic leadership and academic experience, spanning almost 30 years' in the higher education sectors across UK, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia, Inida, China and Australasia.
As the Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Mesbahi provides executive leadership to the Deans and the academic schools as well as the University’s London campus, driving Strategy 2030, ensuring the highest standards of academic delivery, stakeholders engagement and representing the University externally. He also provides strategic direction for the University’s academic portfolio, planning, investment and recruitment objectives.
Professor Mesbahi was born in Iran and moved to India in his teens, where he studied for his undergraduate degree. He holds a Master's degree in Marine Engineering and a PhD on modelling and control of engineering systems using artificial intelligence (AI) from Newcastle University (England) where he has also held a professorial chair in Marine Informatics since 2005.
Professor Mesbahi worked in industry as a Merchant Navy Engineer officer before joining Newcastle University as an academic in 1994. He went on to hold several positions at Newcastle, including Dean and founding Chief Executive Officer of its Singapore campus from 2011 to 2015.
In his subsequent role as Vice-Principal and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Professor Mesbahi had overall strategic responsibility for the institution’s learning and teaching, research, engagement and partnerships.
Prior to Glasgow Caledonian, Professor Mesbahi was Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculties of Science, Health, Engineering, Architecture and Design Innovation at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. In this role, he led the largest division at the university and was responsible for providing strategic leadership across four major faculties and three world-class research institutes, supporting their academic, research and engagement activities.
Professor Mesbahi has served on several national and international strategic and policy-making committees, including the United Nations’ Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), and has been strategic advisor to many governments, industries and universities.
His main research areas are informatics, artificial intelligence, engineering system design, modelling and optimisation, and design for environment. He has so far published almost 100 peer-reviewed publications and industrial reports, and has been the lead investigator in more than 25 national and international research projects, generating research grants valued at over £15 million, and business/enterprise activities totalling more than £50 million.