Elena Marco

Governance | Kingston University London

I am Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Kingston University, leading the delivery of the Town House Strategy in close partnership with the Vice-Chancellor and Senior Leadership Team — with a focus on enhancing students' life chances, driving impact through research and knowledge exchange, and strengthening our engagement with industry, policy and the professions.

I believe that excellent teaching underpinned by strong applied research is the most powerful thing a university can offer, and that enhancing students' life chances should sit at the heart of everything we do. That belief has shaped my career across both professional practice and higher education leadership — and the bridge between the two is where I have always worked best.

I trained as an architect in Barcelona and built my early career at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, delivering award-winning sustainable projects across the UK and Europe. That grounding in practice — in real buildings, real constraints, and real impact — has informed everything since. I moved into academia at UWE Bristol, progressing from lecturer to Pro Vice-Chancellor leading one of the UK's largest STEAM portfolios, and holding the University's institution-wide sustainability brief — a role that brought together my commitment to practice-informed education, research and sustainable leadership. That work was recognised through multiple Green Gown Awards. I retain a Visiting Professorship at UWE Bristol.

I am a Principal Fellow and National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy — the two recognitions I value most. My research, developed over more than twenty years at the boundary between practice and academic enquiry, explores the relationship between architecture, housing, health and sustainability. It was highly commended at the 2021 RIBA President's Research Awards.

Externally, I serve as Senior Independent Board Member of the Architects Registration Board, Trustee of the Design Council, and Trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust.

Equity is central to how I lead — not peripheral to it. I am committed to building inclusive, ambitious, high-performing teams and to championing women and underrepresented  communities in STEAM.