A PROFESSOR who served in the navy, worked as a nurse and has pioneered treatment for people with eating disorders has joined the senior team at the University of Chester.
Professor Mike Thomas, who has been described as an “all-rounder” has been appointed as pro vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Chester, as the culmination of his “rich and diverse” career.
From August, Prof Thomas will be the member of the senior management team and will work with the deans and senior managers from the university’s seven academic faculties, while still retaining some of his existing responsibilities as executive dean of health and social care.
Prof Thomas joined the Royal Navy immediately after leaving school and served as a communications and tactical operator on HM submarines. Following five years’ service he took a management role in an engineering company before training to become a mental health nurse at Winwick Hospital, Warrington.
He later qualified as a nurse tutor and was a former senior lecturer at the University of Salford, a dean of faculty at the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (NEWI), now Glyndwr University, and head of the school of health and human sciences at Leeds Metropolitan University.
His research interests include the holistic treatment of people with chronic and enduring eating disorders.
Professor Tim Wheeler, the university’s vice-chancellor, said: “Professor Thomas is widely renowned as a researcher, teacher and clinician. He is a very welcome addition to the senior management team.”