Mike Wright

After a few years spent working for British Rail, Mike Wright joined the University in 1985 as a lecturer in the Operational Research department (now Management Science). He worked his way up to a Personal Chair in 2008.

In August 2014 Mike was appointed the University's Director of Quality Assurance and Enhancement. In this role Mike gives an academic lead to the development and operation of the University's quality assurance framework and processes, such as course approval, annual and periodic review, the use of external examiners and collaborative arrangements; and also the identification, development and dissemination of initiatives designed to enhance teaching and learning across the university and its partner institutions.

Mike still manages to find time to teach and conduct research in his department. His main research interests concern the creation and development of algorithmic approaches to highly complex timetabling and scheduling problems, especially in sport. In particular he runs computer programs every year to timetable the county cricket fixtures and allocate their umpires. He also occasionally considers other sporting issues, such as when footballers should commit a professional foul.