Adam took up the post in January 2022 after five years as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex. Prior to this he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Transfer), and then Provost, at Birmingham and has also worked in leadership roles at the University of Bristol and Royal Holloway, University of London.

Adam trained as an economic geographer at the University of Manchester, and, amongst other things, his research explored the political economy and regulation of finance, English regionalism, and the economic ‘common sense’.

He is currently leading a review which will reduce the burden of bureaucracy across the research system on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and is on the Board of Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). He has also served on a wide range of public bodies and charity boards.

Adam is rarely happier than clambering through bogs or up hills and mountains, irrespective of the weather.