Stephen Paul Decent is a British applied mathematician and university administrator who has served as the principal and vice-chancellor of

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

since January 2023. He has previously held a number of senior leadership positions across different universities and holds research interests in free-surface flows and

hydrogen fuel cells A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...

. In March 2025, he was announced as the eighth vice-chancellor of

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

and will succeed

Andy Schofield Andrew John Schofield (better known as Andy Schofield) is an academic and administrator who is the vice-chancellor of Lancaster University. A theoretical physicist, he was previously a pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Birmingham and head ...

in January 2026.

Early life and education

The first member of his own family to go to university, Decent holds a BSc in mathematics from

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

and a PhD from the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. His doctoral thesis was on the theory of wave motion and was funded by the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

Career

After completing his PhD, Decent joined the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

as a research fellow and was eventually promoted to the head of the School of Mathematics. He then moved to the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

to take up the position of vice-principal and head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering. Afterwards, he joined

as pro-vice-chancellor of research and enterprise and later pro-vice-chancellor of academic development before moving again to take up the position of provost and deputy vice-chancellor at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

. He was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in January 2023. He will return to Lancaster in January 2026 to take up his next appointment as the university's vice-chancellor.

References

External links

Glasgow Caledonian University Profile , Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Decent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decent, Stephen Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Brunel University London Alumni of the University of St Andrews People associated with Glasgow Caledonian University Principals by university in Scotland 20th-century British mathematicians Fellows of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Academics of Lancaster University Academics of Manchester Metropolitan University Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Dundee