Fred Coalter is professor of sports plicy and director of the Institute for Sports Research at the University of Stirling. Until recently he was the director of the Centre for Leisure Research at the University of Edinburgh

Recent work has included The Role of Sport in Regenerating Deprived Urban Areas (Scottish Executive), Realising the Potential of Cultural Services (Local Government Association) and Sport and Community Development: A manual (sportscotland). He is chair of Edinburgh Leisure Ltd, was chair of sportscotland’s Sport and Social Inclusion Review Group, a member of the Council of Europe’s working group on sport and is a member of the Sports Advisory Board of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. He is also a member of the editorial board of Managing Leisure, an international journal.