Dr Malcolm Butler

Dr Malcolm Butler is the Vice-President and Director of International at the University of Sheffield. He leads on engagements and visits with partners globally and plays a key role in our Forged in Sheffield philanthropy campaign. 

Having graduated with a physics degree from the University of Warwick, Dr Butler completed his PhD in the Department of Engineering Materials at the University of Sheffield. He then spent 11 years working across the UK and Europe in various research and development roles for British Steel/Corus, eventually becoming R&D Programme Manager for a £9 million per annum research programme. During this time, he completed an MSc in Ferrous Metallurgy from the University of Leeds and an MBA from the University of Warwick.

He returned to the University of Sheffield in 2003 where he joined the Polymer Centre as a manager, specialising in knowledge and technology transfer activities. During this time, he was also a founder and Managing Director of the spin-out company Farapack Polymers Ltd. In 2008, he became Faculty Director of Operations for the Faculty of Engineering during which time the faculty doubled student numbers to 5,400 and completed the £86 million Diamond building – a world class teaching facility. He then took on Director of Global Engagement from April 2017 to February 2025. Malcolm was elected as chair of the Russell Group International Forum in 2018 and is also currently a trustee for the Northern Consortium educational charity and a non-executive director of the associated NCUK Ltd. He is currently learning Mandarin.