Professor Chris Rudd OBE
Professor Chris Rudd OBE
Professor Chris Rudd OBE
Deputy Vice Chancellor and Head of Campus, Singapore
Qualifications
- Doctor of Science
- PhD in Mechanical Engineering
- BSc Hons in Mechanical Engineering
- Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- Fellow of the Institute of Materials
- Chartered Engineer
Biography
Chris Rudd is the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Head of Campus, Singapore for James Cook University. Chris is responsible to the JCUS board for the strategic leadership of the Singapore campus of James Cook University and is a member of the JCU Executive Board at which he also holds responsibility for the internationalisation of the University.
Prior to joining to James Cook University, Chris was Provost and CEO of University of Nottingham, Ningbo China (2015-19) where he led a campus of 8,000 students and 900 staff, delivering UK degree programmes in China’s first sino-foreign University and building a series of new research institutes in China to connect with local and international industry. His previous UK roles include Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement (2007-15), leading on business engagement and philanthropic fundraising and Dean of Nottingham’s Engineering Faculty (2003-7). Chris was a board director of the China-Britain Business Council from 2011-17.
In addition to his academic career Chris served as sea-going engineer with P&O Steam Navigation Company (1977-81) and a research engineer at GKN Technology Ltd (1985-86). He has collaborated widely with industry in Europe, USA and Asia and has held guest professorships in Canada, USA and China. He is currently a guest professor at Jilin University and at the National Level International Science and Technology Cooperation base in Advanced Composite Materials hosted by AVIC in Beijing. He received the Ningbo Government’s highest honour for foreigners – the Camellia Award in 2017 and Zhejiang Province West Lake Award in 2018 and a Changbaishan (长白山友谊奖) Scholar in 2013. He was awarded the 48 Group Club Icebreaker Laureate prize for services to Sino-UK relations and led Nottingham Confucius Institute to Model status, awarded by Vice-Premier LIU Yandong in 2015. He was admitted to the Order of the British Empire in the UK 2018 New Year Honours list for services to Higher Education and UK-China relations.
Chris is a Board Member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AustCham) and a member of the Singapore Association for Private Education (SAPE) Management Committee.
Chris is an active researcher and holds grants and contracts with several international organisations for his research in engineering materials and lightweight structures. His team have contributed to the introduction of new materials and processes in the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries. He has successfully supervised more than 60 PhD projects and has published > 175 journal articles with around 6500 citations and an H index of 43.
Outside his professional activities Chris enjoys outdoor activities, traditional music and dance and continues to study Mandarin at intermediate level.