Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. He is a recognized authority on the conceptual and theoretical understanding of the university and higher education. He is the editor and author of many books, including, A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty, Being a University, and Imagining the University. He has served as a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry into Universities and Students and he is a Fellow both of the Higher Education Academy and the Society for Research into Higher Education.