Professor Pete Dunleavy is Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering and Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for curriculum innovation with a focus on cross-faculty portfolio development and structural innovation.

A former MMU student, he graduated in Combined Studies (chemistry and biology) and has a PhD from Nottingham Trent University where he studied the impact of pesticides on plants.

After graduating he held a series of lecturing posts and was a local tutor in biology with the Open University for ten years.  He joined MMU in 1986, teaching part-time and working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow then as a lecturer in environmental science.

Appointed Assistant Dean of the Faculty in 2007, responsible for the student experience and the capital programme, he improved student retention year on year and oversaw the development of many projects across the Faculty that originated in his work as a programme leader.

In 2006, he led an MMU team that won the Green Apple Award as the UK ‘green champions’ in education and training for work involving students conducting live projects with stakeholders in agriculture, farming and environmental consultancy:  the courses he developed were recognised as the national leaders in employer engagement in environmental education.

Professor Dunleavy's early research interests lay in agricultural ecosystems and he is well published in plant sciences and ecology, often funded by the agrochemical industry.  More recently, his work has centred on novel learning and teaching activities, much of it informed by many years experience at departmental level, as an external examiner and as a QAA reviewer for England and Scotland.