Professor Hisham Elkadi is the Chair of Architecture and former Executive Dean at the University of Salford. His research expertise encompasses urban regeneration, cultural built heritage, and sustainable urban futures, and he leads the Smart Urban Futures (SURF) research group. Throughout his career, Professor Elkadi secured significant research funding amounting to over £20 million from prestigious sources such as ERDF, AHRC, EU/UIA, and Newton programmes. His prominent projects include the ERDF-funded Energy House 2 (£19M) and the EU/UIA IGNITION initiative (€1.6M).

Previously, Professor Elkadi served as Head of School of Architecture & Building at Deakin University (Australia), Chair of the Academic Board at Deakin, Head of Architecture and Design in Belfast, and Director of Architecture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). He is an honorary professor at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Taylor University, and University of Portsmouth, and held visiting positions at Harvard GSD and University College London.

Professor Elkadi has published extensively, with over 140 academic outputs including five books, and has supervised 19 completed Ph.D. theses. His significant awards include the UK Environmental Agency Flood & Coast Excellence Award for the IGNITION project, reflecting his distinguished international contributions.