Following a fiercely competitive recruitment process, Ken was the unanimous choice of the interview panel. He will take up position on 1 August 2018 as Professor Joanne Conaghan steps down after completion of her term of office.
Ken is currently Deputy Head at the Law School and has supported the delivery of a bold and ambitious growth plan that has seen the School grow in both size and reputation for its world-leading expertise across the discipline.
He said his mission moving forwards would be to maintain the School’s excellent position in the UK and abroad, and to further build on its teaching and research success.
“Our school is already renowned for academic excellence and rigour. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to take it to the next level – particularly in terms of identifying innovative ways to deliver our educational programs and capture research impact.”
Ken has been leading a review of the curriculum which will come into force for the 2019/20 academic year – and is currently working with academic staff to prepare for REF2021.
Ken’s own research focuses on a wide-ranging set of topics relating to English, European and comparative tort law, and compensation for incapacity. He has gained international recognition for his work through the publication of more than 20 books and in excess of 100 scholarly articles.
“Ken is a globally acclaimed academic, committed to cementing our position as a leading law school and further enhancing our international reputation. He has the skills and vision to lead the School into an exciting new era,” said Professor Joanne Conaghan.
Ken joined the Law School as Professor of Tort Law in 2006. He is the former Director of the Institute for European Tort Law in the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the founding General Editor of the Journal of European Tort Law, UK correspondent for the Torts Law Journal and a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Professional Negligence and the Journal of Law and Society.
He is a member of the European Group on Tort, the European Law Institute, and the American Law Institute (acting as an advisor for its new Restatement of Torts: Liability for Economic Harm).
Ken is also a member of the Law School’s newly established Centre for Health, Law and Society and its shortly to be launched Centre for Law at Work.