McInnes, Colin

Colin John McInnes FLSW (born 18 June 1960) is pro vice chancellor (research, knowledge exchange and innovation) at Aberystwyth University and holds a personal professorial chair in the Department of International Politics there, where his research focuses on global health politics. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. In 2014 he was appointed by the secretary of state for international development as a non-executive director of the UK National Commission (UKNC) for UNESCO, with special responsibility for the social and human sciences, and represents the UK on UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Commission. He was elected chair of the UKNC in 2019 and in this role works closely with the British government, UNESCO designations and UNESCO HQ in Paris. In 2017 he received the Special Achievement Award at the inaugural Wales Social Research awards, for his 'outstanding personal achievement in research'. In 2022, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. He was previously a lecturer in the Department of War Studies, The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; visiting research fellow at King's College London; and special adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee. He was also chair of the British International Studies Association; a member of the ESRC's strategic research board and international advisory committee; member of WHO's expert group on Global Health Diplomacy; and director of the UK Research Councils' Security Research Forum. From 2007 to 2018 he held the UNESCO Chair in HIV/AIDS, reflecting his research interests at that time. In 2019 he was a consultant to the World Health Organization, developing their framework for civil-military collaboration in health emergencies. He recently advised Public Health Wales on its development of an international health strategy, and the InterAction Council (a group of over 40 former presidents and prime ministers) on global health issues. He was on the REF 2014 Politics and International Studies panel and is on the REF 2021 panel for both the criteria and assessment stage as well as being an interdisciplinary panel member.