Alastair McAslan
Centre for International Security and Resilience (CISR)
Location: Wellington Hall
E: a.mcaslan@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 1793 785823
Department of Management and Security
Current activities
Since re-joining Cranfield University in October 2011, Alastair McAslan has been responsible for developing strategic relationships between the Centre for International Security and Resilience (CISR), international organisations, major donors, academic partners, commercial organisations and NGOs operating in the fields of resilience and mine action.
Background
On graduating from Glasgow University, Alastair joined the British Army and followed a standard military career with tours of duty in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Kuwait and the Balkans, postings to the Ministry of Defence, and as an instructor on the Directing Staff at the Royal Military College of Science.
In 1997 he was the coordinator of UK MOD matters relating to humanitarian demining in the period leading up to the signing of the Ottawa Treaty. He was the principal briefer of UK Government Ministers on mine action, Chairman of the NATO Mine Action Committee and Deputy Chairman of the UK Government Interdepartmental Committee on Mine Action. His final two postings were with the United Nations in New York and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. During this period he was Project Director of the United Nations review and revision of international mine action standards, and was awarded the OBE in January 2002 for this work.
On leaving the Army in 2002, Alastair joined Cranfield University as Director of Cranfield Mine Action, and in 2004 also assumed responsibility for the Cranfield Disaster Management Centre. The two units subsequently became known as the Humanitarian Resilience Centre. In 2008 the University was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher education for the Centre's work in building national and local management and governance capabilities in mine-affected countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique and the Sudan.
In August 2009, Alastair McAslan was invited to become the inaugural Director of the Torrens Resilience Institute in Australia. The Institute was established by the Government of South Australia at the International University Precinct in Adelaide to improve the nation’s ability to respond to disruptive challenges which have the potential to overwhelm local disaster management and business continuity capabilities and plans. The Institute comprises the Universities of Adelaide, Cranfield, Flinders and South Australia. As inaugural Director, Alastair was responsible for establishing the Institute, forming teams of academics and practitioners, and developing a sustainable programme of research, education and training courses and consultancy work.
Alastair McAslan re-joined Cranfield University in October 2011 on completion of his two years’ sabbatical in Australia.
