Professor Richard Follett is Associate Vice President (International) at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. He is responsible for developing, coordinating, and driving the University’s internationalisation strategy and provides leadership to Sussex’s international activities worldwide. He is also Professor of American History and a specialist on the history of slavery and emancipation in the United States and Caribbean. Prior to joining Sussex, Follett taught at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He completed his PhD at Louisiana State University on a Fulbright scholarship and has held visiting appointments at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, Nanjing and Beijing universities in China, and at Heidelberg University in Germany. Follett attended Swansea University, the University of Illinois, and the University of London for his undergraduate & masters degrees.

With more than a decade of senior university leadership in the field of international education, Richard Follett is Chair of Universities UK International Africa Network and serves on the international steering committee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Higher Education and SDG Network and on the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Education Committee (UK). He speaks several languages and has extensive experience of international education worldwide.