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Professor P Gough posing for a photo at "Purbeck, Penwith and Purnululu" exhibition at TheGallery, AUB.

A special send-off: AUB marks retirement of Professor Paul Gough with celebratory exhibition

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TheGallery at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) marked the retirement of former Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Gough with an exhibition of his works.

The event, which opened on Thursday 30 January, saw colleagues, academics, and artists celebrate Paul’s years of service to arts education and also welcomed Lisa Mann to the role of Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer.

An exhibition of Paul's artwork and publications, Purbeck, Penwith and Purnululu featured seven bodies of work, including West Penwith, Cornwall; Warbarrow; The Isle of Purbeck and Winspit Purbeck Coast, Dorset; Landscapes Fantastique, Purnululu and The Art of Creative Research.

“Most of the work was started on location and then completed in the studio," Paul explains. "Occasionally the external conditions were simply too hostile for painting or drawing.

“I use a range of media – ink and acrylic as an underpaint, with chalks, pastel and charcoal as the final layer. Though it’s rarely that logical, as all sorts of improvisations happen in the alchemy of the studio. Each piece can take many months as I have a habit of returning to them long after they’re ‘finished’ and on many occasions I’ve taken the work back on site to revisit the original idea.”

After 40 years in higher education, including 10 years spent in the most senior leadership positions in this country and overseas, Paul stepped down as Vice-Chancellor of AUB in January 2025.

Marking this moment, Chair of AUB Board of Governors Dorothy Mackenzie placed on record the Board’s appreciation of Paul's distinctive contribution, adding that, "he has brought extraordinary energy and vision to AUB, as well as providing inspirational leadership both internally and more broadly across the sector."

Paul was appointed to the position of Principal and Vice-Chancellor at AUB in 2019 having served six years as Vice-President at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

During his tenure in Bournemouth, as part of the new 2030 Strategy which he led, the University grew from 3,000 students to over 4,600 and expanded to include online and hybrid delivery through a suite of new Master’s courses designed for the global market.

As part of an expanded portfolio of courses, new validation partnerships were established in London, and transnational AUB degrees devised in Southeast Asia. The School of Arts, Media and Creative Industries Management was opened in 2023 and significant progress made on the pathway to gaining research degree awarding powers.

Achieving a markedly improved return for REF 2021, the university has significantly increased its industry engagement, opening an Innovation Studio, funded by ERDF and LEP, in 2020 and maximising its civic engagement through several town centre initiatives including the purchase and restoration of the Palace Court Theatre, which opened its doors to community and stakeholders in 2023.

As a result of its increased business and community engagement AUB was awarded HEIF funding for the first time in 2022 and again in following years. As a mark of its research growth in creative technologies, AUB was awarded competitive research funding of £1.64 million from the AHRC E3 programme, for the Plastics Innovation and Curation (PlastIC) Research Centre.

Violet M. McClean, TheGallery Curator and Manager at AUB, says, "In a remarkable 40 years of service to the arts and arts education, Paul has left a true legacy on the creative landscape. He has mentored, taught, and inspired thousands and thousands of artists as well as having developed and enriched the careers of many in the arts.”

During his tenure as Vice Chancellor at AUB, Paul maintained an active studio practice and exhibited in UK, Southeast Asia, the USA and Australia.

In addition to other scholarly works, he completed a monograph on the painter Gilbert Spencer RA, published by Yale University Press in 2024.

Paul also maintained a high media profile, particularly in regard his published works on the street artist Banksy, amassing 1.7 million views for a TikTok video on the artist that went viral in the summer of 2022. He's now finalising his latest book on Banksy, which will be published this year.

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