Andrew Knight

Role

Dr Andrew Knight FRICS is the Executive Dean of the School of Architecture, Design, and the Built Environment. This role includes the strategic leadership of a school of approximately 4,000 students and 200 staff organised into five departments: Architecture, Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Product Design, and Property Management and Development. The School focuses particularly on industry-facing courses and research. Andrew is a qualified Chartered Surveyor who continues to teach and supervise courses across the school, with a focus on professional practice and ethics, in addition to his leadership role.

As Executive Dean of the School, Andrew is a member of the Extended University Executive Team and the University Leadership Team, and contributes to various cross-University initiatives, including leading several Industrial Strategic Partnerships.

In research, Andrew’s interest in interdisciplinary built-environment issues, drawing on a range of theoretical approaches, has led to nearly 20 successful doctoral supervisions. He has published on the intersection of philosophy and the built environment, including work on social value and ethics. He is currently a co-investigator on a £260,000 KTP with Allsee Technologies, examining the role of biophilic designs on mental well-being.  He has also contributed to a project examining environmental comfort and sustainability in historic churches funded by the Diocese of London and the Heritage Fund.

Andrew strongly believes in the value of professional bodies, both in terms of ensuring the quality of initial and continuing professional education and, more broadly, in benefiting society. He has recently been involved in developing new global assessments for RICS candidates.

Career overview

Andrew commenced his career in local government as a trainee surveyor in the early 1990s, then moved to private practice after graduating. He was appointed Principal Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University in 2003 with management responsibility for postgraduates before progressing to the role of Head of Department for Construction Management in 2008. After seven years of successful departmental leadership, overseeing a range of strategic initiatives and growth, including the establishment of online learning in partnership with Wiley, he was appointed as Interim Associate Dean in 2015, Deputy Dean (Teaching and Learning) in 2016, Dean of School in 2018 and Executive Dean in 2020.

Andrew holds a PhD and degrees in Philosophy (MA) and Surveying (BSc MSc).

He is also a graduate of the Advance HE TMP Leadership Programme and a Principal  Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

He is a passionate advocate of lifelong learning and continuing professional development.

Andrew’s personal interests include travel, philosophy and music.

External activity

External activity has included:

• Executive Member of the Council of Heads of the Built Environment
• Standards Setting Committee of the International Ethics Standards Coalition, a global alliance of around 150 professional bodies and organisations dedicated to strengthening ethical practice across the land, property, construction and infrastructure professions
• Board Member of Nottingham City Homes RP Housing Association
• Longstanding RICS involvement in professional ethics and APC assessment
• Construction and Property Forum: Local Enterprise Partnership
• Editorial Panel, Research Paper Series, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• Editorial Panel, Innovation in the Built Environment Book Series, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• Reviewer for various journals
• Contributor to professional and general media

A recent article in the Guardian on the topic of Environmental Change and Pipe Organs https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/22/organ-tuning-books-english-churches-notes-warming-climate

BBC Radio 4 interview starts at 31.00 mins https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002ntv4

Sponsors and collaborators

Over the years, Dr Knight has worked with a variety of organisations and currently leads three strategic partnerships with: Volker Fitzpatrick, Arc Partnership, and Morgan Sindall.