Murray Pittock

[3] He has also acted as lead or co-lead for a range of national and International partnerships, including with the Smithsonian Institution,[4] and plays a leading role in the University's engagement with government and the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), organizing the 'Glasgow and Dublin: Creative Cities' summit in the British Embassy in Dublin in 2019, and working with the European network CIVIS on the creation of a European policy document on universities and civic engagement, on which he gave a masterclass for La Sapienza University [1] [5] He also produced a major report on the impact of Robert Burns on the Scottish Economy for the Scottish Government in 2020; a Parliamentary debate was held at Holyrood on the recommendations, which have been cited in policy debate many times since.

[7] Outside the University, he served on the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Institutional Environment Pilot Panel in 2018-22,[8] and on the National Trust for Scotland Board (2019-27) and Investment Committee, as well as acting as Co-chair of the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA) and chair of the Governance Board of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.

He moved to Glasgow in 1996 to take up a chair in Literature at the University of Strathclyde, also serving as Head of Department, a member of the Governing Body and theme lead for Arts, Culture and Sport policy.

In 2003 Pittock moved to the University of Manchester as a Professor of Scottish and Romantic Literature and worked on the changes needed for the merger with UMIST in Arts.

In 2022, he published Scotland: The Global History with Yale University Press (Spectator Book of the Year choice among other awards [4], and as General Editor of the Edinburgh Edition of Allan Ramsay, which received a major Arts and Humanities Research Council grant for 2018-23, has recently led the completion of 4000 page textual edition described as 'groundbreaking' and 'could hardly be surpassed' (Eighteenth-Century Scotland).

[17] Pittock gave evidence in November 2021, on behalf of SAHA to the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) Europe Committee on Scotland's international strategy, that the country's image is two centuries old, one of 'castles, mountains, heather and whisky' and less external awareness exists of a modern 'cutting edge' brand image, with a focus on the country's scientific innovation including developments on 'climate change, digital, cultural, progressive and humanitarian legislation.