Following a reorganisation of Earth Sciences in British universities resulting from the 1987 University Grants Committee's report Strengthening University Earth Sciences, Cann moved to the University of Leeds where he was Chairman of the School of Earth Sciences from 1989 to 1995.[2] Whilst Professor at Leeds he also held a visiting position as an Adjunct Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States.[3] In 1987 he instigated, and subsequently led, the Natural Environment Research Council's British Mid-Ocean Ridge Initiative (BRIDGE), a major UK investigation of the creation of the Earth's crust in the deep oceans.