Professor Pal Ahluwalia is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the Universality of Portsmouth and holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan. He completed his PhD at Flinders University. He was subsequently at Adelaide University for 14 years, finishing as Professor of the Politics Department.

Professor Ahluwalia has previously been a Visiting Professor at the University of California, and Professor with the Goldsmiths College at the University of London, where he was also Director of the Centre for Postcolonial Studies.

His main research interests lie in the areas of African studies, social and cultural theory, in particular, post-colonial theory and the processes of diaspora, exile, migration, and the complexities of identity formation. His work is internationally renowned for breaking down disciplinary boundaries and challenging orthodoxy.

Pal is a prolific publisher, both in terms of volume and prestige. He is the sole author of three books, Politics and Post-colonial Theory: African Inflections; Post-colonialism and the Politics of Kenya; and Plantations and the Politics of Sugar in Uganda.

In 2008, Professor Ahluwalia was appointed a UNESCO Chair in Transnational Diasporas and Reconciliation Studies.