Background
Eastwood was born on 5 January 1959 in Oldham, Lancashire and educated at Sandbach School.
Eastwood was born on 5 January 1959 in Oldham, Lancashire and educated at Sandbach School.
In 1980, he graduated from Street Peter"s College, University of Oxford with a First Class Bachelor of Arts (Bachelor) in Modern History, and was promoted to Master of Arts (Master of Arts) in 1985. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (Doctor of Philosophy) in 1985, also from the University of Oxford.
Eastwood has held the posts of Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University. His academic specialism is modern history, and he was fellow and senior tutor of Pembroke College, Oxford. He was Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), a post he had held since September 2006.
Former posts also include Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia and Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board.
On 13 April 2009, he succeeded Michael Sterling as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. In March 2011, he announced plans to raise the undergraduate tuition fees at the University of Birmingham to the maximum of £9000 (subject to OFFA approval) for courses commencing 2012/13.
He has contributed numerous times to several newspapers, among them The Guardian,The Sunday Telegraph and The Times. His specialist subject is 19th and 18th century British and American politics.
He is also Chair of the QAA Steering Group for Benchmarking and a member of the QAA Board. He is a member of the Athenaeum Club.