Linda Evans is (full) professor of education at the University of Manchester in the UK, where she is currently the deputy head of the School of Environment, Education and Development. Her research is located in the broad field of working life in education contexts, and incorporates foci on, inter alia, professionalism, professional development, researcher development, workplace attitudes, and leadership. She is known for having developed original theoretical perspectives and conceptualisations, including conceptual models of the componential structures of professionalism and professional development. A former student of European studies and modern European languages, Linda remains a fluent French speaker and speaks reasonably fluent German. She has presented numerous invited keynotes and plenaries, including in Belgium, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Australia, Mauritius, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia and South Africa. During an academic career that has spanned three decades, she has published around 90 academic papers, eight authored books and one co-edited book, and is currently working on her latest monograph, A Research Agenda for Educational Leadership: Critical Scholarship for a New Direction, to be published by Edward Elgar in 2026. In her leisure time she enjoys reading, visiting historic sites, and watching Manchester United. She is looking forward to a new era of success for the team under Portuguese head coach Ruben Amorim!