Two new senior appointments

We’re delighted to announce that the University has recently made two new appointments to senior roles: Professor Mark E Smith as Vice-Chancellor and Ruby Wax as Chancellor.

Professor Mark E Smith

Professor Mark E Smith, currently Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University, has been appointed as the next President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton.

Mark embodies all of the key leadership qualities that we were searching for based on our detailed consultation with staff and students, in particular the ability to inspire, engage and work with our University community.  These traits, coupled with his extensive academic and leadership experience, will ensure we can continue to successfully deliver our strategy to build the University of Southampton’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading research universities, and to firmly establish us as a world leader in education.

Subject to final arrangements, we look forward to welcoming Mark at the beginning of the new academic year on 1 October 2019.

Mark commented: “It is a tremendous privilege to be appointed the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton. I am very excited to be joining a university that is so committed in its vision and strategy to achieving dual excellence in its educational offering and research.

“As one of the most research-intensive universities in the UK, and recognised in the world top 100, it is an exemplar of an institution that can make a real difference to the world.

“There is also a clear commitment to collegiality, playing a positive role in the region, and changing people’s lives for the better. All these resonate strongly with me, and I very much look forward to meeting all the people associated with the University.”

Visit the University’s news page for more details.

Ruby Wax

We are pleased to announce that actor, author and leading mental health campaigner Ruby Wax OBE has been appointed as Chancellor.

As Chancellor, Ruby will play a leading ambassadorial role for the University through activities linked to the institution’s strategy. She will also preside over graduation ceremonies, and play an active role in other aspects of the University’s development.

Ruby began her duties as Chancellor on 1 May 2019. She succeeds Dame Helen Alexander, who served the University from 2011 until her death from cancer in 2017.

Best known for her extensive comedy and documentary work on television, Ruby is also well known as a major advocate for mental health, bringing issues to the foreground in Parliament, and other fora, through her role as Patron for the British Neuroscience Association and as an ambassador for the charities MIND and SANE. It is through her services to mental health that she was awarded an OBE in 2015.

“I’m thrilled and honoured to take up the role of Chancellor for the University of Southampton,” Ruby said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know more about the University, and am particularly keen to engage with Southampton’s students, staff and graduates across its wide range of subjects and activities, which I find inspiring.

“I also hope to engage the University community more closely in my activities focused on mental health, so that together we can explore how to overcome the stigma of mental health in society, especially among younger generations.”

Read more about the appointment of Ruby Wax as Chancellor.