Steve Decent
British mathematician and university administrator
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Stephen Paul Decent FIMA is a British applied mathematician and university administrator who has served as the Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University since January 2026, having previously served as principal and vice-chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University.[1] He has previously held a number of senior leadership positions across different universities and holds research interests in free-surface flows and hydrogen fuel cells.[2]
Steve Decent | |
|---|---|
| Vice Chancellor of Lancaster University | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Andy Schofield |
| Principal and vice-chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University | |
| In office January 2023 – December 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Pamela Gillies |
| Succeeded by | Mairi Watson |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | Brunel University (BSc) University of St Andrews (PhD) |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Hysteresis and mode competition in Faraday waves (1995) |
Early life and education
The first member of his own family to go to university, Decent holds a BSc in mathematics from Brunel University and a PhD from the University of St Andrews.[3] His doctoral thesis was on the theory of wave motion and was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.[4]
Career
After completing his PhD, Decent joined the University of Birmingham as a research fellow and was eventually promoted to the head of the School of Mathematics. He then moved to the University of Dundee to take up the position of vice-principal and head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering. Afterwards, he joined Lancaster University as pro-vice-chancellor of research and enterprise and later pro-vice-chancellor of academic development before moving again to take up the position of provost and deputy vice-chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University.[5]
He was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in January 2023. He returned to Lancaster in January 2026 to take up his next appointment as the university's vice-chancellor.[2]