Place of birth: Wigan, Greater Manchester, England

Parentage: son of George Gillespie and Joan Gillespie

Family: married María Elena Fernández

Education: BA (Hons), Politics, University of Liverpool 1974; PhD, Politics (thesis on ‘The Peronist Left’), University of Liverpool 1979

Career: Richard Gillespie holds the Chair of Politics at the University of Liverpool. His research interests include: Spain, Morocco, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, and EU external relations. He teaches courses in European politics, Spanish politics, the International Politics of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and Europe and the world. He is Founder and Editor of the journal Mediterranean Politics (see url below).

Honours and awards: research awards from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) for projects on ‘Changing Perspectives on European Security in the Western Mediterranean’ (with Claire Spencer) and on ‘The Spanish-Moroccan Security Relationship and the Euro-Mediterranean Context’

Publications include: Spain and the Mediterranean: Developing a European Policy towards the South 2000, The European Union and Democracy Promotion: The Case of North Africa (co-editor) 2001, Spain: The European and International Challenges (co-editor) 2001, Researching the Mediterranean (co-editor) 2006; numerous book chapters and numerous articles in professional journals such as International Politics, European Security and the Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans

Contact details: Address: Room 302, School of Politics and Communication Studies, Roxby Building, University of Liverpool,Liverpool, L69 7ZT, England; Tel: +44 (0)151-794-2890; Fax: +44 (0)151-794-3948; Email: richard.gillespie@liverpool.ac.uk ; Email: richard.gillespie@liv.ac.uk ; Website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/polcomm/ ; Website: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13629395.asp/ .