James Slater grew up in France, Spain and the United States, an upbringing that exposed him to different cultures and provided him from an early age with invaluable experience in meeting and engaging with new people. He qualified as a solicitor with Clifford Chance before beginning a career in academia in 1993, when he joined Nottingham Trent University as a law lecturer. He is now a Reader in Law at the University of Buckingham, where he has been since 2002. James also undertook the LLM programme at Harvard Law School and was awarded his PhD by the University of Birmingham. James passionately believes in the transformative effect of higher education for people of all ages and backgrounds, supporting adults to reposition and invigorate their professional lives through his leadership, for 12 years, of Buckingham’s part time law degree programme. The University of Buckingham’s diverse and international student body has also provided James with invaluable exposure to the cultures and ambitions of an international community of students. During his 22 years at the University of Buckingham he has made it one of his core responsibilities to guide students to the right career by identifying and fostering talent and providing support to enable students to understand and realise their ambitions. James has witnessed the positive impact of that guidance, which he has found to be the most rewarding part of his job.
