Appointed 2025

Rajani Naidoo is Professor of Higher Education and Social Change at the University of Exeter, holds a UNESCO Chair in Higher Education Management, and is Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) and the University of Bath (UK). She was featured in the top 2% in the Stanford/Elsevier citations ranking in her field.

Her interdisciplinary research examines how global, national, and organisational forces shape universities, focusing on the impact of hyper-competition and collaboration, regional development, and the pursuit of social justice. She is currently researching freedom of speech and good campus relations; and the ethical responsibilities of universities in the era of artificial intelligence.

Rajani has directed the International Centre for Higher Education Management at the University of Bath and repositioned the Executive Doctoral Programme in Higher Education to be world leading. She has directed multi-national projects on equitable partnerships between the Global North and South and evaluated policy interventions for international organisations including the British Council, the UK Department for International Development, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. She serves on editorial boards of leading journals and is co-editor of Palgrave Macmillan’s Global Higher Education series.

Her leadership roles are deeply informed by scholarship. At the University of Exeter, as Vice-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Culture), she leads on enhancing conditions that foster innovation within a supportive and inclusive community.