DMU appoints new Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Business and Law

De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has appointed Professor Kasim N Sheikh as its new Pro Vice-Chancellor for Social Justice and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law.

Kasim is set to join in September from the University of the West of Scotland where he is currently the Dean of the School of Business and Creative Industries.

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Kasim has more than 30 years’ experience in strategic leadership, earned during a career in which he has held Dean, Head of School and academic positions at the Universities of Huddersfield, Kent and London, amongst others.

An expert in international law, governance and justice, and a United Nations Expert in International Human Rights, he is an advisor to cabinets, parliaments, legislature, judiciary and law enforcement in both Western and Middle Eastern and Central Asian States.

With a background as an organisational specialist and management consultant and having led commercial ventures, Kasim has extensive experience of managing international, collaborative and consultative partnerships including governmental consultancy roles.

Professor Sheikh said: “Three things in particular have drawn me to DMU. I am delighted to be joining a university that is so values-led, working towards fairness in society, putting people and communities at the centre of what it seeks to do. 

“A strong international focus means a globally connected university that welcomes and supports international students and values its place in the world.

“Lastly, the university together with its communities in Leicester, is rich in diversity, embracing different backgrounds, cultures and identities to create a vibrant, modern, inclusive environment in which to study and live. I very much look forward to joining the university this coming autumn.”

Professor Sheikh will take up his post on 1 September 2025. Alongside leading the Faculty of Business and Law he will take on a PVC role leading Social Justice for the university. This will mean developing connections across Leicester, with DMU’s Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and DMU’s work in equality and widening participation, to ensure the university best supports social justice. He will also engage closely with DMU’s work in its role as hub chair for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 11, creating sustainable cities and communities.

DMU’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Katie Normington, said: “I am very much looking forward to welcoming Kasim to DMU. He brings with him extensive experience in university leadership alongside his academic expertise in human rights.

“His commitment to a values-led, diverse, university which appreciates the transformational experience our students undergo means he will feel very much at home at DMU.”