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̨ÍåÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Leicester (DMU) has appointed former Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, Rob Nixon, as an Honorary Professor.  

An experienced and well-known policing leader with over three decades of public service, Rob brings significant operational experience and a passion for developing people to the academic community where he will help shape the next generation of leaders in policing, criminal justice, and public service. 

As Honorary Professor at DMU, Rob will play an active role in guest lecturing, mentoring, advising on curriculum, and bridging research and practice.  

He will also support the university’s wider training efforts, including its growing work in probation services and justice reform. 

He said: “I’ve always admired DMU for how closely it works with the city and wider community. 

“When I heard the United Nations had chosen it as the hub for Sustainable Development Goal 11, creating sustainable cities, it made perfect sense. That kind of vision is what drew me here and to get involved.” 

Rob’s appointment aligns with DMU’s work to connect education with the real world and driving positive change in communities. The university currently offers the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship and a range of criminology and public service programmes many developed in collaboration with local agencies and national partners. 

Professor Katie Normington, Vice-Chancellor of DMU, said: “We are very proud that Rob has chosen to join us here at DMU. He brings with him an enormous level of policing insight and experience, which he will share with students here. 

“But he is also someone with a wide and detailed understanding of the need for services, institutions and people to work together to create truly sustainability communities and cities and we are excited to be able to work with him in this aim.”

Until March this year, Rob served as Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, capping a 32-year career which included frontline roles as a detective, city commander, specialist firearms commander and a wealth of strategic command during major national incidents, including leading the force’s Covid-19 response and being the chair of the local resilience forum. 

He also headed up the Criminal Justice Coordination Committee, run by National Police Chiefs’ Council, was a member of the national Sentencing Council and the Government’s Criminal Procedure Rule Committee. 

He also played an active role as national police gold commander during the prison crisis in 2024.  

His service was recognised with the Queen’s Police Medal in 2020 and in March 2025 he was appointed as a Deputy lieutenant for Leicestershire.  

Throughout his career, Rob was especially committed to investing in people. As Chief Constable, he was instrumental in setting a long-term vision for officer and staff development most notably through the creation of the Team Leicestershire Academy (TLA), now widely recognised as one of the leading police training academies in the UK. 

“Developing people has always been a passion of mine,” Rob said. “Seeing the TLA grow into a national example of excellence has been fantastic.  

“It’s even more rewarding to see the strong relationship TLA has formed with DMU. It is run by great people and I’m really excited about the opportunity to help that partnership flourish further. 

“With so much reform underway in criminal justice, there’s a real opportunity to create more joined up, collaborative training across services,” he added. “Policing, probation, health, local authorities these are all interconnected. I’m looking forward to working with DMU to explore what future-ready, integrated training could look like.”