President
Professor Martin Halliwell FEA
Professor Martin Halliwell is Professor of American Studies in the University of Leicester’s Centre for American Studies and the current Head of the School of Arts (combining English, History of Art and Film, and Modern Languages). He is also International Director for the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Site Director for the Midlands3Cities AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership. He served as Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor International for three years (2013-16) and is a former Head of the School of English (2008-13). Martin was elected to the EA Fellowship in 2008 and has chaired the Association’s Higher Education Committee.
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Rob Penman
As well as a period teaching English as a foreign language with the British Council in Finland, Rob Penman has taught secondary English in both the independent and maintained sectors in the UK. He was for many years head of English at Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School, a large Gloucestershire comprehensive school where he now works part-time. He is a former chair of the Association’s Secondary Education Committee and is a member of the Board of Trustees.
Deputy Chair
David Duff
David Duff is a Professor of Romantism at Queen Mary University of London i. In 2015 I was a professeur invité at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and taught for a semester at the College of William and Mary in the USA. He studied at the University of York for his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. After completing his doctorate, he taught English and American literature in Poland at the Nicholas Copernicus University of Torun and at the University of Gdansk, where he was British Council lecturer for two years. David takes part in active professional life and served from 2011 to 2014 as Chair of the Council for College and University English (now University English), chair of the Common English Forum, a body which brings together organisations connected with English studies in schools and universities and meets regularly with the Department for Education.
Hon. Treasurer
Colin Gore
Colin Gore was, until January 2018, the head of governance at the Leicestershire-based Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Chief Executive
Dr Rebecca Fisher
Dr Rebecca Fisher joined the English Association team in October 2018. Prior to this, Becky completed a PhD in English Literature at the University of Sheffield. From 2012 she held several posts at the University of Warwick, first as the Postgraduate Recruitment Officer in the Student Recruitment and Admissions Office, moving on to be the Programme Manager for University Summer Schools in 2014. More recently Becky looked after the Global Shakespeare initiative, the BLASTER (The Best in Liberal Arts and Sciences Teaching Expanded and Reinforced) project, and the development of a new MSc in Humanitarian Engineering; her most recent role was the Department Administrator (Research, Finance, and Operations) in Sociology at Warwick, where she looked after the administration of research projects, departmental finances, personnel, infrastructure, workload, and health and safety. She is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy.
