|  At
its meeting on December 11, Council of the
University of Leeds appointed Professor Michael
Arthur as the University's new Vice-Chancellor.
Professor Arthur is currently Dean of Medicine,
Health and Life Sciences and a member of the
strategic management team of the University
of Southampton.
Professor Arthur will take over from Sir Alan
Wilson on September 1 and hopes soon to be
visiting the University regularly.
He said: “I am honoured and delighted
to be appointed as the next Vice-Chancellor
of the University of Leeds. It is an exciting
time in higher education and I am looking
forward to the challenge of leading this great
University.”
Pro-Chancellor David Ansbro welcomed the appointment.
“Michael Arthur comes with a very high
reputation and we are delighted to have secured
his appointment. I am looking forward to welcoming
him to Leeds. In Sir Alan Wilson, as Michael
Arthur himself acknowledges, he has a hard
act to follow but Michael will bring his own
distinctive approach and a fresh insight at
a crucial time for the sector.
“He has many of the same very human
qualities of his predecessor which underpin
the University’s values, and we are
confident that he will provide the leadership
the University needs in the changing times
to come.”
An internationally-renowned liver specialist
who has held research roles abroad, Professor
Arthur is the only Russell Group vice-chancellor
to have attended a comprehensive school –
Burnt Mill Comprehensive School in Harlow,
Essex.
He went on to study medicine at Southampton
and developed his research interest in liver
cell biology during clinical training.
After two years at the University of California
San Francisco he returned to Southampton in
1989 and within three years, at the age of
37, was appointed Chair of Medicine. He became
Dean of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
in 2003.
Professor Arthur has won several awards, including
a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award in
2002 to pursue further research at Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York. Under his
guidance, Southampton’s liver research
group increased its research income to over
£7m since 1996.
Michael Arthur and his wife Elizabeth have
three children, Rachel, Sarah and James. His
interests include sailing and yacht-racing
in the Solent. He also likes to lose at golf
to his teenage son.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor David Sugden will be acting
Vice-Chancellor from June 1 to August 31.
Further
information is available from the press
release |
