Sam Nolan is Professor and Director of the Durham Centre for Academic Development at Durham University, where he leads a 60-strong unit spanning digital education, educational and researcher development, foundation year provision, and academic skills. His research focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning, digital and AI-enabled education, curriculum design, and widening participation. Publications include a co-authored book on creative thinking in university physics and edited volumes with Routledge and Palgrave. He founded the annual Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship conference in 2015 and co-founded the journal Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. A National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of Advance HE, Sam helped design Durham's education-focused promotion pathway to full Professor and has mentored many colleagues to professorial promotion. He began his career as a gamma-ray astrophysicist, including a NASA-funded post in the United States, before moving into educational leadership. He contributes internationally through the Coimbra Group, AQRUS network, external examining, and keynote speaking on educational innovation.