Doug Specht awarded Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy

Dr Doug Specht, Head of the School of Media and Communication and CAMRI member, has been awarded Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), recognising his sustained strategic leadership in learning and teaching in higher education. The award places him among a small number of sector leaders acknowledged for their institutional, national and international impact on pedagogy and educational development.​

Dr Specht is the first person to simultaneously hold Chartered Teacher Status (CTEACH), Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) and Principal Fellowship, alongside Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), a PGCE and an MA in Higher Education. This combination marks a distinctive career that spans school, college and university teaching, and reflects a long-standing commitment to evidence-informed practice, mentoring and inclusive curriculum design.​

Beyond his formal roles, Dr Specht is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Chartered Geographer, and his academic work ranges across geopolitics, cartography, human rights and educational innovation. He also chairs the Environmental Network for Central America and the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative working group on AI in University Management, and is an active commentator on AI, ethics and education in outlets including WonkHE, Times Higher Education and The Conversation, bringing CAMRI’s critical perspectives on media, data and justice into wider public debate.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash