Professor Cara Aitchison has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education and Sport at the University of Bedfordshire. Based at the Bedford campus, her role is to provide strategic management and academic leadership, as well as following university policy and national legislation regarding finance, health and safety, staff and student welfare and equal opportunities.

Professor Aitchison, best known for her extensive research on social inclusion theory and policy in leisure, said: 'I am looking forward to working at the University of Bedfordshire where widening access and participation are core values of the institution and where social inclusion in education and sport is they key focus of the faculty's teaching and research.'

The former Professor in Human Geography and director of the Centre for Leisure, Tourism and Society at Bristol's University of West of England, takes over from Professor Kate Jacques who retired at the end of August.