Professor Steve Decent joined Lancaster University as Vice-Chancellor in January 2026.
Having graduated with a BSc in Mathematics at Brunel University and a PhD at the University of St Andrews, Steve moved to the University of Birmingham as a Research Fellow in 1995, followed by being a Lecturer, before becoming Senior Lecturer, Reader and then Professor of Applied Mathematics, and then later the Head of School of Mathematics at Birmingham.
He then moved to the University of Dundee as Vice-Principal, before joining Lancaster University in 2014 as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. Steve moved to Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019 as Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, before becoming Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in 2023.
Steve is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and specialises in research on free-surface flows.