Malcolm Press

Malcolm Colin Press (born 18 September 1958) is a British ecologist, Professor and Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), UK.

Press was educated at the Westfield College, part of the University of London gaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental sciences in 1980 followed by a PhD from the University of Manchester in 1983.

Following his PhD, Press was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London (UCL) from 1985 to 1989. He was appointed a Lecturer in 1989 at the University of Manchester, before being promoted to senior lecturer and moving to the University of Sheffield in 1994, where he was a Reader until 1998, then Professor of Physiological Ecology from 1998 to 2008. He was appointed Pro-vice-chancellor and Head of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham until 2015. He started his position as Vice Chancellor at MMU in June 2015 where he took over from John Brooks who held the post from 2005-2015.

Controversy

During his time as head of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, Press was at the centre of controversy apropos the College's perceived aggressive management style, writing that the College had "managed out under-performing staff" in a strategy document. This was seen by some, that undue pressure had been put on selected staff to resign at that time. These remarks were later withdrawn.

Press conducts research on interactions between parasitic plants and their hosts, environmental change in Arctic ecosystems and tropical rainforest ecology. Specifically:

Press was president of the British Ecological Society (BES) 2007–2009, and was awarded the BES presidents medal in 2005. In 2012, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by Lord Taylor.