University recovery plan - Staff

The University Recovery Plan was presented to the University Court on 7 August and they have given their endorsement to this as a direction of travel towards financial sustainability. The campus unions, with whom we have engaged throughout this process, have also been informed.

Details of the plan will be shared with staff and students when the SFC’s due diligence is complete, and the plan has been endorsed.

Voluntary severance scheme

A voluntary severance scheme launched on Friday 6 June 2025 and ran until 25 July 2025.

The University received positive engagement from colleagues, with 434 applications submitted by the deadline.

The process of reviewing these applications has now started and we have begun informing applicants of their outcomes.

Further details are available on the Voluntary Severance Scheme SharePoint.

Update on leadership developments

Chair of Court

The University is seeking to appoint a permanent Chair of Court – an individual with a distinguished and successful record of leadership within a large, complex organisation – to lead us through our next chapter as we recalibrate following a period of significant financial challenge. The successful candidate will take up the post in Autumn 2025.

In the meantime, Dr Ian Mair, Deputy Chair, is Acting Chair of Court. Ian is an alumnus of the University, with a great passion for our institution. Having completed a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology in 1995 and a PhD in Molecular Neurobiology in 1998, Ian qualified as a chartered management accountant. He has since worked across many finance roles in Tesco, both in the UK and China, before moving to Grosvenor where he held roles including Chief Finance Officer and Chief Operating Officer across the Asia region, and latterly Group Services Director in which he oversaw the development of innovation, technology, HR, Health and Safety and Company Secretariat.

Interim Principal and Vice-Chancellor

The University of Dundee has appointed Professor Nigel Seaton as Interim Principal and Vice-Chancellor on a short-term basis.

Professor Seaton joined the University in May 2025 as Interim Provost. He was previously one of Scotland’s longest serving Vice-Chancellors, having joined Abertay University in 2012 and served as Principal until 2022.

The appointment follows the resignation of Professor Shane O’Neill in June 2025.

Vice-Principals

Court has approved proposals for us to retain four portfolio VP roles for a short period, with a view to consolidating these to three roles by re-integrating two of the roles during the next academic year.

Dr David McBeth remains in post as Vice-Principal (Enterprise and Economic Transformation).

Vice-Principal (Global Engagement and Future Students)

Professor Kim Dale was appointed to this role on 1 August having served as Interim Vice-Principal (International) since February 2025. This role has been modified in scope and given a new title more appropriate for the priority responsibilities. 

Vice-Principal (Education and Student Experience)

Professor Linda Martindale was appointed to this role following a competitive recruitment process having spent several years as Dean of our School of Health Sciences.

Taking up the position on August 11, Linda will focus on delivery of our learning and teaching programmes, as well as the wider student experience at Dundee.

This slightly modified post became vacant on the retiral of Professor Blair Grubb as Vice-Principal (Education) in July 2025.

Vice-Principal (Research)

The recruitment process is concluding for this role, which became vacant on 30 June following the resignation of Professor Lisanne Gibson. The role will be appointed on an interim basis until December 2025, pending consideration of consolidation of this post with the role of Vice-Principal (Enterprise and Economic Transformation) role.

Director of Finance

Lee Hamill was appointed Interim Director of Finance on 23 July 2025.

Lee is a senior finance and business leader with key skills in financial and commercial strategy, and strong experience in the higher education sector.

From 2019 to December 2024, he was Director of Finance at the University of Edinburgh, having started there in 2015 as Deputy Director of Finance.

Lee has been appointed on an 18-month contract, and will work as part of the University Executive Group as we continue to develop and implement our recovery plan for the University.

University Secretary

Court has approved the appointment of Dr Veena O’Halloran as Interim University Secretary. Veena is an experienced senior manager with a 30-year career in higher education in Scotland. 

She has a strong connection to Dundee, having established and managed the Duncan of Jordanstone College Faculty Office following its merger with the University. She then served as Director of Registry here for more than three years before moving on to the University of Edinburgh. Veena spent several years as University Secretary and Compliance Officer at the University of Strathclyde before retiring from full-time employment in 2022. 

Since then, she has served as Special Advisor to the Principal at Strathclyde and was a non-Executive member of the Board of the Scottish Funding Council for eight years.

Veena brings extensive knowledge of the sector and experience of strategic leadership and governance.

Chief Operating Officer

Kirsteen Campbell joined the University as Interim Chief Operating Officer on 21 July 2025. Her contract is for a nine-month period.

Kirsteen brings over 30 years of leadership experience across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, with a strong track record in strategic transformation, organisational redesign, and stakeholder engagement. Most recently, Kirsteen served as Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish SPCA (2017–2025), one of Scotland’s largest national charities. 

Further updates

This page is updated on a regular basis as we continue on the pathway to financial recovery and sustainability.

Last updated 13th August 2025