Nigel Seaton

Professor Nigel Seaton served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University from 2012 to 2022, one of Scotland’s longest-serving Vice-Chancellors. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh (1982), followed by an MSE and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His career includes roles as a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering and Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge (1989–1996), and Visiting Professor at Cornell University. At the University of Edinburgh (1997–2008), he advanced to Vice-Principal while leading research in gas separation/storage and porous materials design. Before Abertay, he served at the University of Surrey as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, overseeing teaching, research, and internationalization.

Under his leadership at Abertay, the university gained national recognition for teaching excellence, student satisfaction, and race equality initiatives, including the Times/Sunday Times UK University of the Year for Teaching Quality (2022) and the first Scottish Race Equality Charter Mark.

His research focused on industrial and environmental applications of interfacial engineering, with sustained academic contributions across multiple institutions.