Richard Waites

Professor Richard Waites serves as Director for Students in the Department of Biology at the University of York, overseeing approximately 1,400 students across undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs. A plant developmental biologist by training, he has held academic positions at the University of York since 2001, progressing from Lecturer to Professor in 2015.

His research centers on plant leaf development, utilizing genetic and computational approaches to analyze shape and size variation across species. Key interests include evolutionary aspects of leaf morphology and strigolactone signaling pathways. His work integrates molecular genetics with computational phenotyping to understand developmental regulation.

Professor Waites has received significant recognition for teaching excellence, including two Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Awards and multiple University of York Student Union Excellence Awards across four categories. His educational leadership extends to committee service across all university faculties and collaboration with other UK institutions.

• Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award
• University of York Student Union Excellence Award (four categories)

As principal investigator for BBSRC-funded projects like 'Petal Asymmetry' and 'A computational approach to identify meristematic genes', he supervises research students including Vera Matser. His departmental leadership in student support and curriculum development demonstrates commitment to academic excellence.