Professor Tom Crick

Biography

Professor Tom Crick MBE FLSW FAcSS is Professor of Digital Policy at Swansea University and Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Whilst his disciplinary background is in computer science, his academic interests sit at the research/public policy interface with a focus on broad societal/policy impact: STEM/digital education, curriculum reform, science and innovation policy, artificial intelligence, data science, and skills/infrastructure for the digital/data economy. As underpinning themes, his broader research interests also include levers for government innovation, digital public services, digital democracy, and citizen/civic/public engagement.

Tom has led the major science and technology curriculum reforms in Wales over the past 10 years,  and has recently driven the development of Swansea University’s civic mission strategy. He was an inaugural Commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales from 2018-2022, as well as a member of the expert panel for the Welsh Government’s 2019 Review of Digital Innovation for the Economy and the Future of Work in Wales. Alongside his academic work, Tom has held non-executive and senior advisory roles with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Industry Wales, Ofcom, Nesta, and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

Tom has been an Editor of the Wales Journal of Education/Cylchgrawn Addysg Cymru, a bilingual platinum open access journal published by the University of Wales Press, since 2020. He is also Editor-in-Chief of The Computer Journal (2021-present), one of the longest-established computer science journals (since 1958), published by Oxford University Press.

Awards

• Appointed MBE for 'services to computer science and the promotion of computer science education' (2017).
• Elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2020).
• BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award (2020) for 'Leading the Future of Science and Technology Education in Wales'.
• Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (2022).
• IET Achievement Medal in STEM Education and Policy (2022).
• Learned Society of Wales Hugh Owen Medal in recognition of significant contributions to educational research (2023).
• BCS Lovelace Medal for Computing Education (2023). 

Publications

For a full list of Professor Crick's publications, see his Google Scholar profile.

 

 

8 ‘Defining Parental Engagement in ITE: from relationships to partnerships’ with Professor Janet Goodall

 

6: ‘Primary school parent governors in a deprived south Wales community: how do their experiences contribute to our understanding of school governance?’ with Dr Allan Glyndwr Meredith

 

 

2: ‘Predicting undergraduate students’ learning from a lecture: The role of self-control, motivation, and mental effort’ with Dr Robin Owen