Liam Preston BEM

Director of Communications, University of Essex

After a varied career in the third sector where he had responsibility for advocacy, brand, campaigning, communications, and public affairs; Liam joined the University of Essex as Director of Communications in March 2022.

Liam has been a Chair, Vice-Chair, and trustee of a number of national charities and educational institutions, and was President of his Students' Union for two years. In 2020, he was awarded the British Empire Medal by HM Queen for his services to young people. After the death of his baby daughter in 2018, Liam now focuses his volunteering on bereavement support. He co-hosts the Dad Still Standing podcast- https://podfollow.com/dadstillstanding, a pod designed as a toolkit to help bereaved fathers with their grief, and is a spokesperson for baby loss charities and campaigns.

Here at Essex, Liam is responsible for ensuring the institution has a strong brand that is known in the UK and around the world, and for leading an internal and corporate communications culture that promotes the university's world-leading education and research. He also has responsibility for Essex’s Outreach work in schools and colleges across the county.