Richard Watermeyer is Professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Bristol and is a sociologist of educational policy, practice and pedagogy. His research is predominantly concerned with a sociological analysis of change in higher education as motivated and framed by currents of, and challenges to global capitalism and (the weakening of) its policy incantations. He is especially well known for his internationally comparative and critical analyses of public engagement and societal impact generation as valorised academic functions. He is the author of Competitive Accountability in Academic Life: The Struggle for Social Impact and Public Legitimacy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar); co-editor of Pedagogical Peculiarities: Conversation at the Edge of University Teaching and Learning (Leiden/Boston: Brill/Sense); and is principal editor of the forthcoming Handbook on Academic Freedom (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).