Wendy Johnston

National Teaching Fellow 2015 Wendy Johnston's transition from industry to education has been the foundation of her teaching approach and through collaboration and partnership she has brought industry into her classroom and taken her students out into the real world. The Vice Chancellor states "Wendys partnership links with food industry partners has enabled the university to work with commercial companies to ensure the student experience is at the cutting edge of practice, academically and practically". Wendy's approach is all about developing potential. She is an outstanding innovator, a collaborator and a teacher with a passion for enabling others to succeed. She has ambitious goals for herself, her students and the university, and a talent for making things happen. Wendy's work is unique but also highly transferable and she is a highly successful academic entrepreneur with student learning at the core of her philosophy. Wendy has successfully secured sponsorship in excess of £1 million from several companies, resulting in the development of the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) Food Academy. This comprises completely re-furbished teaching spaces and resources, which have revolutionised the facilities the students work within. Students now have the LJMU Food Academy within which to learn and companies have access to groups of students as product developers. The Executive Director to the Vice-Chancellor states: "Wendy has changed the face of Food teaching at LJMU forever, the new facilities have significantly enhanced and enriched the student experience." One of her external partners calls her a "unique asset to both our business and LJMU" and one of Wendys graduates commented that Wendy "shared her experiences and contacts in industry to not only improve the learning experience, but also the learning environment". In 2014 Wendy was awarded the LJMU Vice-Chancellors award for teaching excellence for her work developing partnerships to enhance the student experience. She is passionate about her subject and this infectious enthusiasm has inspired the students she works with. Her students talk about her support being 'invaluable', her style as 'encouraging and motivational' and believe she is 'a very inspiring lecturer'.