François Nel is an accomplished media innovation and entrepreneurship expert with a rich and extensive background in academia, research, and professional publishing. He is a Reader (Associate Professor) at the University of Central Lancashire, where he directs the Journalism Leaders Programme, a pioneering program that trains forward-thinking journalists and media leaders.

Nel's work at the intersection of academia and industry makes him a boundary-spanning thought leader in media innovation, digital transformation, and entrepreneurship. He co-founded the UK's Digital Editors Network and was the first academic to join the World Editors Forum of WAN-IFRA. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, where he conducted research on news innovation and digital entrepreneurship.

Nel's passion for research and innovation has yielded several ongoing studies on the impact of technology on the newspaper industry. His work underpins WAN-IFRA's World News Publishers Outlook report and has earned him a reputation as a respected authority on media innovation and entrepreneurship.

He holds a Ph.D. in Journalism from City University London, an MA in English from Winthrop University, and a bachelor's degree in Business Communications and English from North Park University.