Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences · Queen’s University Belfast
A non-executive director to the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Board, Nola is Professor of Innovation Management and Policy at Queen’s University Belfast and a Senior Research Associate with the UK Enterprise Research Centre.
Her research centres on the dynamics of innovation ecosystems with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises, technology adoption and the anchor role of Universities in economic development. Her research has been motivated by the desire to explain regional economic performance, and how this is affected by the innovation ecosystem. She has an extensive publication record in internationally-leading journals, has been awarded large research grants throughout her career and recently was appointed to the assessment panel for the UK Research Excellence Framework.
She has worked extensively with businesses and policy makers in the UK, Ireland and internationally, evaluating and advising on how governments can intervene to overcome failures in the market that constrain business growth and innovation. In 2022, she was made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and elected a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Management. Having led transformational change in Queen’s Business School, she was awarded the Institute of Directors (NI) Public Sector Director of the Year award. Since 2020, Nola has been Pro-Vice Chancellor at Queen’s.
