David Amigoni is Keele University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation. He is Professor of Victorian Literature. He has worked extensively with the Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire cultural sector, having led Keele’s Knowledge Exchange Framework, the Keele Deal | Culture, 2019-24. He played a leading role in establishing the civic region’s cultural compact, Stoke Creates, from 2021. He is deeply committed to culture-led regeneration through publicly engaged research (he interviewed Booker Prize winner Ian McEwan at the 2009 Darwin Bicentenary Festival); and knowledge exchange (he is a national champion for Research England’s National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange).