Charles Egbu
At PeopleDem property we believe in celebrating our community by spotlighting black excellence in property. Today we are celebrating Professor Charles Egbu.
Professor Egbu is a British academic in the field of construction management who has worked in higher education in the United Kingdom for over 30 years. He is the Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University, UK, becoming the first Black person to hold such a position at any UK university. He is also a Fellow of several institutions, including the Chartered Institute of Building, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Association for Project Management, the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, and the Higher Education Academy.
Professor Egbu comes from Abatete, in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. A practising Catholic, he had originally planned to study medicine and become a doctor. However, following his father's death, he realised that he needed to study closer to home and support his mother and siblings. Consequently, he pursued a degree in quantity surveying at Leeds Metropolitan University, graduating with first-class honours. After gaining experience working on construction sites, he returned to academia to pursue a master's degree in the built environment, followed by a doctorate in construction project management at the University of Salford. He also obtained an advanced diploma in research award supervision from Leeds Metropolitan University in Leeds, UK.
Over the course of the next two decades, Professor Egbu progressed into senior leadership positions at various higher education institutions. His career included working at the University of Salford, Glasgow Caledonian University and University College London. In May 2017, he was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Constructors and received the Freedom of the City of London in the same year.
Professor Egbu previously served as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Experience at the University of East London. Before his appointment to this position, he was Dean of the School of the Built Environment and Architecture at London South Bank University, where he held the Chair in Project Management and Strategic Management in Construction.
In the year before his appointment to Leeds Trinity University, Professor Egbu served as President of the Chartered Institute of Building during 2019–2020. He was also a governor and member of the London Design and Engineering UTC. More recently, he was announced as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Professor Egbu became Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University in November 2020. His appointment was a historic moment for the university, marking a significant milestone for diversity and excellence in British higher education.
As a devout Catholic, it is clear why Professor Egbu chose Leeds Trinity University. One of England's four Catholic universities, Leeds Trinity was founded in 1966, originally comprising two teacher-training colleges run by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion and a forerunner of the Catholic Education Service. Alongside England's three other Catholic universities, Liverpool Hope, Newman and St Mary's, Leeds Trinity was initially established to train teachers, particularly those who would work in schools in less privileged areas.
Professor Egbu explained how his Catholic upbringing has influenced his approach to leadership and service. He said: “Fundamentally my Catholic upbringing, that wherever you are you must give more than you get, has meant me trying to support those who are less privileged or who struggle to get into academia. I've made it a point of duty to always bring to universities what I call widening participation, for people who are struggling to get there once they've got the promise, and the opportunity, we need to realise their potential.”
However, while many aspects of the university's Catholic life are flourishing, Professor Egbu acknowledged that challenges remain for the sector as a whole. He explained: “Many of us as Catholic universities are struggling,” he said, “because in a secular society those things that stood us well in the past perhaps are becoming a challenge. In the past if you asked somebody why they came they would say because of the philosophy and ethics, the Catholic mission and Catholic teachings. Very few people are now coming to the university to do this.”
Leeds Trinity University has also recently become a full member of the US-based Catholic Health Association, ahead of plans to introduce nursing degrees the following year. Partnerships are being established through its membership of the International Federation of Catholic Universities and through connections in Latin America. As a result, the number of international students is expected to grow significantly. A year earlier, the university had only 15 international students, but that number had risen to 80, with expectations that it would reach 500 within the following three years.
Professor Egbu highlighted the importance of these international connections, saying: “We know that many students benefit greatly from being able to travel across the world between Catholic universities,” Professor Egbu said, “so it's a now new strategic ambition to grow this, prior to that we've always been a localised university.”
Closer to home in Leeds, the university is also preparing to expand its campus estate. A property in the city centre has recently been acquired, with plans to open additional facilities, including student support services and a Catholic chaplaincy.
Through championing Catholic virtues of inclusivity and dignity, Leeds Trinity University aims to develop well-rounded and resilient students who are sought after by employers. Professor Egbu believes that this approach is what differentiates Catholic higher education. He explained: “We are obliged to make sure we transform their lives because we've seen the potential,” he said. “Not many universities can say that! Once you are in our university we want to develop the wholeness in you, through volunteering, support work in the community, coaching, mentoring, the wider social justice, so you can begin to picture yourself when you are out there, how you can contribute to a challenging world, and you are prepared for that.”
Ultimately, the Leeds Trinity Vice-Chancellor hopes that graduates will cherish their university experience and continue to uphold its values wherever they find themselves. These values include supporting others, giving everyone an opportunity and, ultimately, seeing the Lord Jesus in everyone. He explained: “It's not antagonistic to how the world is changing, indeed it's part and parcel of a very challenging world with the centrality of care and compassion and innovation at the heart of it.”
Throughout his career, Professor Egbu has made a significant impact on people's lives within the property industry. He has supervised over 30 PhD students and examined more than 100 PhD candidates worldwide. He has also served as an external examiner for numerous undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at universities across the globe. In addition, he has contributed more than 350 publications to international journals and conferences and has hosted, chaired and spoken at numerous conferences within his areas of expertise.
Professor Egbu has managed several large, multidisciplinary research projects, received over £25 million in funding as a Principal Investigator and led a number of successful research centres. He was formerly a member of the Peer Review College of the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the Peer Review College of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He is also a visiting professor at several universities across Europe, Africa and Asia. Through mentoring and professional development, he has supported academics in more than 30 countries and helped large, medium-sized and small organisations develop their skills through continuing professional development.
On 1 August 2024, Professor Egbu was appointed to the Universities UK Board. He is a member of the UUK Resources Committee and has contributed his experience to several UUK groups, including the Woburn House Development Group. He also serves on several boards, including Yorkshire Universities, Leeds Learning Alliance, the University Vocational Awards Council and the Cathedrals Group of Universities in the UK. Rooted in the values of Abatete, Anambra State, Professor Egbu serves as a global ambassador for Nigeria's intellectual and cultural heritage.
Beyond his titles and academic honours, Professor Egbu's journey is defined by lifelong curiosity and a commitment to transformation. Growing up with a deep-seated belief in the power of education, he developed an interest in how the built environment affects people's lives. This personal mission has taken him from his early studies to the leadership of major institutions, guided throughout by the principle that leadership is about service and creating a lasting legacy for those who follow.
As a leader, Professor Egbu believes in the power of professional collaboration. By bridging the gap between academic research and industry practice, he continues to shape the standards and policies that govern the built environment on a global scale.
Three years after his appointment, Professor Egbu remained the only Black vice-chancellor across UK higher education. He observed that although the proportion of undergraduate students from ethnic minority backgrounds had increased in recent decades, rising from 24% to 27% in the five years leading up to 2020, the degree-awarding gap had remained steady. He also noted that students from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to drop out of their courses and were 13% less likely to achieve a good degree classification than their white counterparts.
Professor Egbu highlighted the continuing barriers faced by minority communities in progressing into senior professional and academic positions. He said: “Very few from minority communities get into graduate jobs, and it becomes more telling when you look at senior positions, only 0.7% of professors in the UK are black professors, very few people are able to get into a Dean's position or Pro-Vice Chancellor. The reason is simple, the pipeline is not coming through, by the time you get into that sphere there are very few black people, and also very few people of disability.”
He emphasised that Leeds Trinity University was working to address these inequalities through its commitment to social justice, particularly in recruitment, career progression, mentoring and coaching. However, he acknowledged that further action was needed across the sector to improve representation and opportunities for underrepresented groups. As he explained: “My university is doing quite a lot because we are a university that believes in social justice, in the issue of recruitment, career promotion, mentoring and coaching, but there's more that everyone has to do to improve this position.”
It has been a pleasure to share Professor Egbu's story and showcase the variety of opportunities available within the property industry, demonstrating that an academic career is also a possible path for members of our community. His achievements highlight how he has supported countless people through higher education and championed diversity in leadership. His story will inspire many Black children by showing them that they, too, can reach the highest levels of academia.
