David Petley

David Neil Petley is an earth scientist who is Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull from 2022 to 2025, and Vice President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.

Education

Petley has a BSc in geography from King's College London and a PhD in earth sciences from University College London.

Career

He worked as a lecturer at the University of Sunderland and later at the University of Portsmouth. In 2000 he moved to the University of Durham where he established the Institute for Hazard, Risk and Resilience; in 2012 he became Dean of Research at Durham and also Dean of Global Engagement. Following a move to the University of East Anglia, he was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise. In 2016 he was appointed to a similar role at the University of Sheffield; he became vice-president for Innovation at the same university in 2020. He resigned, effective in August 2022, from the University of Sheffield. In June 2025, Petley was announced as the new Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University.

Interests

Petley's major research interest is landslides, and in particular their mechanics, via both laboratory modelling and monitoring in the field. He has also worked extensively on the human and economic costs of landslides.