Big boots to fill – successor to Dame Nancy Rothwell named
The University of Manchester has appointed Professor Duncan Ivison as its next President and Vice-Chancellor. He will formally take up his role on 1st August 2024.
He will succeed Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell who steps down after 14 years in the role at the end of July 2024 when her contract concludes. 2024 is also a significant year as it will mark the bicentenary of the University, 200 years from its earliest origins in 1824.
A formidable and hard working President, Rothwell was well-connected in the city region and sat on the LEP (now Greater Manchester Business Board) and attracted national and international figures into the orbit of the University, including former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who has a visiting role.
Lifetime achievement award for Dame Nancy
She was honoured for her lifetime of achievement by the Times Higher Education at its prestigious annual awards ceremony and in 2010 became the first woman to lead the University or either of its two predecessor institutions.
She has also served as Co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology and President of the British Neuroscience Association. She was the first woman to Chair the Russell Group of elite universities (2020- 2023).
As a “research intensive” university Manchester fared well in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the key measure by which future funding is allocated. Overall, 93% of the University’s research activity was assessed as ‘world-leading’ (4*) or ‘internationally excellent’. The university also climbed nine places in the rankings to 10th place in terms of grade point average, an improvement from 19th in the previous exercise, REF 2014.
However, Professor Ivison will also inherit poor industrial relations with members of campus unions frequently protesting and striking over low pay and pensions.
The university hosted a visit from President Xi of China in 2014, but has faced criticism that it has become too dependent on Chinese students and research contracts. The University is home to the Manchester China Institute, which promotes academic research on China on campus, and a Confucius Institute, which focuses on teaching Chinese and culture promotion in the broader Manchester community.
In 2022 the UK government prevented the University from licensing vision-sensing technology to a Chinese company, on national security grounds.
Dame Nancy also angered the student body when fences were erected around the Owens Park campus during the pandemic.
The university has also only achieved Silver status in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), while neighbouring Manchester Metropolitan has achieved Gold.
These issues and more will have been placed on Professor Ivison’s to-do list and on the brief to specialist headhunter Saxton Bampfylde.
Currently coming to the end of a research sabbatical, Professor Ivison will join from the University of Sydney, where most recently he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). Previously he was Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Head of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry. He is a Professor of Political Philosophy.
Earlier in his career, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, a Lecturer at the University of York, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Australian National University.
He completed a BA in Political Science at McGill University in Montreal, where he grew up and an MSc in Political Theory and a PhD at the London School of Economics.
Philippa Hird, Chair of the Board of Governors headed the search process alongside Saxton Bampfylde. She said: “We wanted the right leader to take forward this world-class university into its third century of success and impact against our three core goals: teaching and learning excellence; an internationally renowned research powerhouse and setting new global standards in social responsibility. The Appointment Panel and Board unanimously agreed that Duncan was the outstanding candidate to take on this role.
“Together with a wealth of experience, Duncan brings a thoughtful and engaging approach. He has a clear sense of the future for the University and an appetite to build on all that has been created to date.”
Professor Ivison said: “It is an extraordinary honour to join The University of Manchester as President & Vice-Chancellor as it enters its third century. The University is a research and teaching powerhouse, but also an institution – like the city itself – with true heart and soul.
“What inspires me about the university community is not only their deep commitment to excellence, but also their passion for social responsibility and civic engagement.
“The scale and urgency of the challenges that our city, our region, and our world faces, requires universities like ours to harness our resources for the public good in new and innovative ways, and as never before. This has been a central part of the university’s mission since it was founded, and I look forward to working with our staff, students, alumni, and partners to continue to build on this remarkable legacy for the future.”
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell will continue to lead the University until summer 2024.
