University leader named Chief Digital Officer of the Year
A Staffordshire University leader has won a top industry award which recognises his commitment to making Staffordshire the UK’s foremost digital university.
Andrew Proctor has held the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor (Digital) since 2019 and is the driver of Staffordshire University’s ambition to be the foremost digital institution.
Andrew has now been named Chief Digital Officer of the Year at the Computing Digital Technology Leaders Awards.
The awards recognise the achievements of the individuals and companies who are really making it happen at the coal face of the digital technology stack: from website design and coding to UX and project management, from scrum masters and product managers, all the way up to the Chief Digital Officer (CDO).
During a virtual ceremony, Andrew was named CDO of the Year in a category which also included David Ivell, of Enginuity.org; Darren Curry, NHS Business Services Authority and Constantin Singureanu, Pufferr.
Judges described Andrew as “a truly impressive digital leader.”
Andrew said: “It’s an honour to be named Chief Digital Officer of the Year and it’s a very encouraging sign that Staffordshire University is making waves on the road to becoming the UK’s foremost digital university.
“At Staffordshire University, we pride ourselves on a number of digital firsts – we were the first university in Europe to migrate to the cloud, the first in Europe to launch an AI-driven coach for students and the first in the world to launch a dedicated undergraduate Esports degree.
“Good digital infrastructure means also having the support in place for students and staff to continue to work no matter what their circumstances.”
This CDO of the Year accolade follows Andrew’s success in being included in the Digital Leaders 100 Awards – which celebrated the individuals and organisations from the public, private and non-profit sectors who are demonstrating a pioneering and sustainable approach to digital transformation in the UK.
Andrew was one of just four leaders working in academia to be included in the independent list and the only higher education representative to be shortlisted in the ‘Digital Leader’ category – which was ultimately won by Lucy Watts MBE, a leader in digital spaces for people with disabilities and life-shortening illnesses.
Mary-Ann Astle
PR Manager
e: mary-ann.astle@staffs.ac.uk
Staffordshire University is the Connected University; connected to the needs of students, academic partners, business and society. Our main city campus in Stoke-on-Trent features excellent learning and teaching facilities and good transport links. We have specialist Centres of Excellence in Healthcare Education at Stafford and Shrewsbury.
We were recognised with a Gold award in the 2019 Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) for delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for students.
We have been shortlisted for University of the Year at the THE Awards 2020 and were named ‘Midlands University of the Year’ at the Midlands Business Awards 2020.
Staffordshire University has signed up to the Civic University Agreement, pledging to play a leading role in improving the regional economy and enhancing quality of life in local communities. We were recognised in the top 15 for social inclusion in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021. We aim to be a leading university for digital technologies building on our proud computing heritage and in 2019 launched Staffordshire University London’s Digital Institute which is committed to preparing students for careers in new and emerging tech industries.
We are a Top 250 Young University (Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2020) and are connected globally, with more than 11,000 people are studying Staffordshire University degrees overseas.
