UCL East appoints new Pro-Provost

Professor Paola Lettieri (UCL Chemical Engineering) has been appointed the first Pro-Provost of UCL East in recognition of her leadership and contributions to the university's long-term development ambitions, culminating in the launch of the new UCL East campus.

Professor Lettieri is currently Director of UCL East and takes up her new role with immediate effect, after having been involved in the development of the campus since 2014. She became Academic Director UCL East in 2016 and was appointed Director in 2020.

Throughout that time, Professor Lettieri has overseen all aspects of the new campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford in east London, from the buildings’ design to academic planning and governance, operations, public engagement and working with stakeholders.

UCL is a founding partner of the East Bank project, an education, culture and innovation district created as a legacy of the London 2012 Olympics. Professor Lettieri also represents the university to the Mayor of London’s office, the London Borough of Newham and other East Bank partners including the V&A, BBC, Sadler’s Wells and UAL: London College of Fashion.

UCL President and Provost Dr Michael Spence said: “As Director, Paola has provided tremendous leadership to keep all the strands of this huge and complex project on track for successful delivery, and her new title recognises the scale and importance of her role.”

UCL East will begin opening this autumn with the completion of One Pool Street. The facility will be home to multidisciplinary research labs and studios exploring ecology, robotics, AI, urbanism, culture, disability and heritage as well as a café, shop and accommodation for more than 500 students.

The university will soon be welcoming its first cohort of postgraduate students at UCL East to pursue new degrees in cutting-edge new UCL schools and centres.

The 2023/24 academic year will see the opening of the campus's second, larger facility called Marshgate, and the launch of new interdisciplinary degree programmes, as well as the first undergraduates attending courses at UCL East.

Marshgate is made up of eight floors of hi-tech, cross-disciplinary research labs, teaching areas, fabrication workshops, collaboration spaces, a library, a refectory, a prayer space, a café and an expanded Institute of Making.

UCL East is the biggest development in UCL’s nearly 200-year history, giving the university the scale and space needed to tackle the biggest challenges facing people and the planet.

Under Professor Lettieri's leadership, colleagues from across nine UCL faculties have come together to create a smart, connected and accessible campus that breaks down traditional academic barriers and where collaboration and cross-disciplinary working will be the norm.

Professor Lettieri has also been working closely with the London Development Corporation (LLDC), East Bank partners and the London Borough of Newham to ensure UCL East plays a key role in the social and economic transformation of east London, benefitting local communities.

This article was first published on 19 May by UCL.