Liverpool Hope University appoints an Everton FC professor

Liverpool Hope University have created a new job many Blues fans will envy - a professor specialising in Everton FC.
Professor Ian Vandewalle, the university’s pro vice-chancellor, has taken up the new role as part of its five-year partnership with the club.
The new Everton Chair in Social Responsibility will lead university experts in carrying out research to help the club analyse and improve its community work.

Researchers from subjects as varied as health sciences, business, social work and education will all contribute to the research.
Professor Vandewalle will oversee the work, which will provide detailed evidence of the impact Everton in the Community has across the city.
It is hoped the findings will be shared with other football clubs and cities, to help promote best practice in clubs’ social responsibilities.
The professor started his career as a health sciences lecturer before moving into business and development, establishing Hope’s Business School in 2000.
Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE, a director at Everton and executive chair of Everton in the Community, has also been made an honorary visiting professor at Liverpool Hope.
Both professors will kick off their work with a series of free lectures open to the public in late spring.
Professor Vandewalle said: “We know that football has a fantastic potential for social good, and Everton already has an outstanding reputation for its relationship with its fans and the wider community.
“Its Community Hub is a fine example of that, and we are excited by the Club’s drive to do even more. We want to explore new avenues and create a proven model for how football clubs can make even more of a positive impact on the world around them.”
Professor Barrett-Baxendale said: “Professor Vandewalle is just the right appointment to help drive the partnership forward. He is a respected academic and the research conducted by his team will provide Everton in the Community with the ability to quantify the social impact the charity makes in our community.
“Having a dedicated research facility led by Professor Vandewalle will help to benchmark, test ideas and help us take new initiatives forward. The outcomes provided from this partnership will ensure we can optimize the life-changing and life-saving work delivered by the charity.”