Professor Akhgar received the OBE, the second highest order of the British Empire award, in recognition of his services to security research.
A globally recognised leader in his field, Professor Akhgar’s pioneering research has made a considerable contribution to making the world a safer place through the development of innovative programmes to tackle organised crime, child sexual exploitation and terrorism.
Professor Akhgar is the director and founder of the Centre of Excellence in Terrorism, Resilience, Intelligence and Organised Crime Research (CENTRIC) at Sheffield Hallam University and has developed the Centre, bringing international renown and global influence.
Working with colleagues in CENTRIC, Professor Akhgar has brought together researchers, law enforcement agencies, policy makers and the public to bridge the gap between academic research and operational reality.
His commitment to security and tackling crime and cybercrime has helped CENTRIC forge hugely successful partnerships, including collaborations with Europol which have led to major advances in tackling cybercrime and cryptocurrency criminality and development of world first AI Accountability Framework for law enforcement agencies.