Deian Hopkin

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Professor Deian Hopkin (born 1 March 1944) is Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of London South Bank University, UK. He is a historian, originally from Wales and a fluent Welsh speaker. Born and educated in Llanelli, South Wales, he attended the first ever Welsh-medium school to be established by a local authority, followed by a scholarship to Llandovery College. He graduated in history at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth where he also completed his PhD. After a brief period at Queen Mary College, London, he returned to the Department of History at Aberystwyth where he taught for twenty four years and became Head of Department; for most of that time he was also a tutor at the Open University and was seconded to the OU to develop new courses. In 1991 he was appointed Dean of Human Sciences at City of London Polytechnic which became, in 1992, London Guildhall University (now London Metropolitan University). He was promoted to Vice-Provost in 1996.

He is Chairman of the UNIAID Foundation, the national charity supporting students in financial difficulty and Vice Chairman of CARA, the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, were he is also a Board member of the Scholars at Risk - CARA Network, recently formed to extend support internationally for refugee scholars and academics.

He is actively involved in educational policy and, in particular, the skills agenda of the UK. He is a Board member of Skills for Health, the sector skills council and chairs the Development Board for the 14-19 Specialist Diplomas for Health, Social Care and Justice. He is Chair of Universities UK's Skills Task Group and a member of the UUK Employment, Business and Industry Task Group. He also works with the Department for Education and Skills on communications strategies with universities over the new qualifications.

In London, he is active in educational and community matters. He is Vice Chairman of London Higher, the incorporated membership body to which 45 London Universities and HEIs belong and he is co-Chair of the HE-FE Partnership Group for all 94 Higher Education and Further Education institutions in London. He is a member of the London 2012 Education and Skills Task Force and a member of London First's Diversity Group.

In terms of community enagagement is he is currently a trustee of the Elephand and Castle Development Trust, one of London's most significant regeneration projects, and a member of Southwark Alliance. In the recent past he was the founding Chairman of Cityside Regeneration Ltd, a governor of Hackney Community College and of Lambeth College, a Trustee of the Bishopsgate Foundation and of the Aldgate and All Hallows Charitable Trust and a member of the European Programmes Committee of the Government Office for London.He has also served on a variety of bodies in London including the Boards of Central London Partnership, One London Ltd and South Bank Employers Group.

He has published widely on Labour and press history and on the use of computers in history, and was co-founder of the Association for History and Computing and founding editor of Llafur, The Journal of Welsh Labour History. He has extensive broadcasting experience and was a member of the BBC General Advisory Council, the Educational Broadcasting Council for Wales and for many years a member of the Court and Council of the National Library of Wales, where he still serves as an adviser to the Welsh National Political Archive

Professor Hopkin is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Arts, as well as a Freeman of the City of London, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Guild of Educators. In 2003, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He is a member of the Athenaeum Club.

In his spare time, he is an accomplished jazz pianist, sometimes playing with ex-members of Colosseum.