Name: Keith Leppard

Job title: Professor

Department: School of Life Sciences

Number of years at Warwick: 30

There’s no such thing as a typical day, but, in brief, my job involves...

the classic academic juggling act: balancing the demands of research, teaching and administration. I meet a lot of undergraduate and postgraduate students in my role as a Personal Tutor and as Director of Postgraduate Research, and was previously Director of Undergraduate Studies. I run a small research group with a postdoctoral fellow and PhD students where we are studying how innate immune responses to infection are regulated. I’m also now the virologist on the University’s Genetic Modification and Biosafety Committee. For many years, I chaired the Science Faculty IT Committee and enjoyed contributing to University IT Policy discussions.

My most memorable moment at Warwick has been...

receiving a Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence, as teaching, both hands-on and the organising of it, has been a major part of my Warwick career.

In my time at Warwick, the biggest change I’ve seen is...

the progressive enlargement of the campus, including at the Gibbet Hill site where I work. Whilst the buildings that were here when I came are still present, the shape and size of the complex has been completely altered by new developments, with further new building soon to come, and the size of the Life Sciences (formerly Biological Sciences) academic staff has more than doubled too.

Warwick's kept me here because...

it combines a strong institutional reputation, a supportive and collegiate environment for my work in my own School, and a local environment that is both rich in leisure opportunities locally and well-connected to other parts of the country and beyond for the coasts and mountains that the area cannot provide.

At the moment I'm really enjoying working on...

a collaborative PhD project that also involves colleagues in Computer Science, Chemistry and WMS. The project is related to cancer chemotherapy and it’s involved me in thinking about some areas of science that are well outside the comfort zone of my historic interest in adenoviruses, which is refreshing.

I've only just realised that...

there are several possible walking routes from Gibbet Hill to University House, all of which take about 20 minutes, so I now have an excuse to explore corners of the campus that were previously not on my radar.

Warwick’s unique because...

I’m not answering this directly because my inner scientist tells me I lack the evidence to make a definitive statement about uniqueness, but Warwick is a very good place to work!

If I could change one thing at the University, it would be...

the drive for standardisation across Faculties in degree programmes. Academic disciplines are necessarily different in what they ask of students, and hence how this can best be achieved, so a rigid framework is a mistake.

I make / have made use of many campus services,

but I want to particularly highlight the Subject Librarians within the library. Both in teaching and research, I’ve found them invaluable in identifying and smoothing the path to key resources, as well as in giving direct and much appreciated support to our students.

I usually travel to campus by...

by car. I reckon that driving every day as opposed to using the alternatives has given the University an extra 4 years of my working time since I came here. I’m full of admiration for those who cycle in every day but I’m afraid the convenience of my own four wheels has always got the better of other considerations.

I recently watched...

the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra at the Arts Centre perform one of my favourite pieces, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and was treated to a beautifully haunting reminder of why this music has stayed with me so strongly over the many years since I first heard it. Followed by Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Dvorak’s 9th Symphony, this was a programme just made for me.

My favourite place on campus is...

Tocil Woods, particularly in May. Walking through them in the early evening with the sun slanting through the spring green tree canopy onto the carpet of bluebells, their heady scent hanging in the air, is a real pleasure.

The best thing about working at Warwick is...

its people: the colleagues and students I work with. Whilst the tangible things you achieve will give you satisfaction, it’s the personal interactions and conversations you have that make or break your day.

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