Professor Philip Plowden joined Birmingham City University in August 2017. He had previously served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby. Prior to that, Professor Plowden worked for almost 20 years at Northumbria University, where he was Dean of the School of Law.

Professor Plowden graduated with a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Oxford. Having worked as an advice worker for a number of years, he qualified as a solicitor in 1993, and then transferred to the Bar in 2001.  In practice he specialised in human rights and public law.

In 2005 Professor Plowden was appointed as a National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research interests are based in criminal law and practice, and in legal education and pedagogic practice. Professor Plowden has been influential in the development of clinical legal education in the UK, and in strengthening an international network of legal clinicians, centering on the ‘International Journal of Clinical Legal Education’, which he edited for many years. Professor Plowden sat on the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society as the academic member of that committee, and until recently on its Education and Training Committee.

Professor Plowden serves on a number of regional Boards and Committees, including the Main Board of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, where he also serves as Chair of the Enterprise and Innovation Pillar Board. 

Outside academic life, Professor Plowden is a lifelong fan of American Football, with a long-standing interest in genre fiction and computer gaming.