William Leahy

Professor William Leahy was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) on 1 April 2014. Previously he was Head of the School of Arts (now College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences).

William's research specialises in Shakespeare and in Elizabethan Processions. His particular interest is in the role and representation of the common people in Elizabethan and Shakespearean literature and, latterly in the Shakespeare Authorship Question.

As well as being a section editor for the John Nichols Project, he has published widely on both Shakespeare and early modern spectacle, culminating in a book entitled Elizabethan Triumphal Processions, published in May 2005 by Ashgate. More recently he has published widely on the Shakespeare Authorship Question, most notably in his 2010 edition of collected essays Shakespeare and his Authors: Critical Perspectives on the Authorship Question (Continuum)

While publishing these and articles based on his research in the early modern period, he is also a translator and a writer of both fiction and poetry.

Bill also writes journalistic articles and has appeared on BBC TV and Radio. At the 2005 Brunel Graduation Ceremony Bill received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence, after being nominated by students as the tutor they had found particularly inspirational during their time at Brunel.