Professor Dominic Micklewright

Professor Dominic Micklewright is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience and Outcomes) at ARU, a role he was appointed to in 2025. He leads work to improve inclusion, student experience and outcomes, with a particular focus on opportunity and social mobility for non-traditional and disadvantaged learners.

Dominic entered academia in 2004 and became Professor in 2016. Prior to joining ARU, he held senior, pan-university posts at the University of Essex, including Dean of Undergraduate Education (2022–25) and Dean of Partnerships (2013–21). His portfolio has spanned education strategy, quality and standards, academic integrity, and the development of innovative provision and partnerships, including online degrees, transnational education, and degree apprenticeships.

Dominic’s route into higher education has been unconventional. He left home at 17 to join the Royal Navy, serving for seven years as a submariner and diver, before moving to the Metropolitan Police. While working, he completed an undergraduate honours degree in Psychology, a master’s degree in Sport Science and a PhD in Sport Psychology over a period of a decade. His experience of working and studying as a mature student has cemented his commitment to improving inclusion and fairness in higher education, something he pursues through a grounded, empathetic, and student-centred approach to leadership.

Dominic has a strong international reputation as a researcher, predominantly on perception, fatigue and decision-making in endurance performance. He is a Chartered Psychologist (BPS) and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and is highly cited in his field. He has served in editorial roles for PLOS ONE, Frontiers in Physiology and The Sport and Exercise Scientist, and is a regular keynote speaker at major international conferences.

He has supervised 12 doctoral researchers and extensive undergraduate and master’s projects, and frequently examines PhDs internationally. At the University of Essex, he founded and led the Sport, Performance and Fatigue Research Unit (2008–2014) and later headed the Human Performance Research Group (2021–2023).

His personal interests include endurance running, cookery, and sailing. He enjoys voluntary work as Chair of Governors at a local secondary school, at a homelessness centre in Southend, and in fundraising for the charity Military v Cancer, which reflects a long-standing commitment to community service.