Reports

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Laing O’Rourke Professorship of Construction Engineering

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Department of Engineering is a leading international centre for research and achieved an outstanding result in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) exercise. Its research spans all of the major engineering disciplines including civil, structural, and environmental engineering, which is one of the Department’s core strengths. The Department’s aim is to address the world’s most pressing challenges with science and technology. Through its teaching, research, and infrastructure, the Department seeks to demonstrate the value of engineering excellence by translating intellectual achievement into practical progressive action of benefit to all. To achieve this aim, the Department collaborates with other disciplines, institutions, companies, and entrepreneurs.

2. An opportunity to develop one such collaboration has now arisen from a proposal by Laing O’Rourke, the UK’s largest privately owned construction company, which seeks to establish a new strategic partnership with the Department of Engineering and Judge Business School. Laing O’Rourke has agreed an initial donation of £9.6m, indexed for inflation and payable over ten years, to create a Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology within the Department of Engineering. The Centre will precipitate innovation and provide a new vision for the shape of tomorrow’s construction industry. It will provide a focus for innovative teaching and research programmes including the introduction of a Master’s programme in Construction Engineering. The Master’s programme will explore the future of construction and address issues of sustainable development, drawing on research in new techniques, new models of construction, and new management approaches. In parallel the Centre, under the leadership of the new Professor of Construction Engineering, will develop a substantial research programme which will target novel solutions to the many challenges facing the world in constructing a built environment that is sustainable whilst providing for the needs of society to supply energy, water, shelter, and the transport infrastructure on which economic well-being depends.

3. The proposal includes the establishment, for a single tenure, of a Laing O’Rourke Professorship of Construction Engineering and this has been endorsed by the Council of the School of Technology and the Faculty Board of Engineering. In addition to leading the core academic team responsible for delivering the Master’s programme and contributing to Departmental teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, the Professor would be expected to lead research activity in the Centre, securing significant matching funds and developing links between Laing O’Rourke and the University.

4. After the initial ten-year funding period, Laing O’Rourke proposes to review its involvement with the Centre with the intention of renewing the funding on a rolling five-to-ten-year basis. In order to underwrite the costs of the proposed Professorship beyond the initial period of confirmed funding, the Department of Engineering has agreed to suppress, if necessary, the Professorship that will become vacant on the retirement of Professor R. J. Mair on 30 September 2017. In addition, the Department has identified two University Lectureships that could also be suppressed following the retirements of Mr A. McRobie on 30 September 2025 and Dr A. Al-Tabbaa on 30 September 2028. The General Board have accepted the Faculty Board of Engineering’s proposal for the establishment of the Professorship on this basis. The naming rights associated with the donation supporting this post will cease if, for any reason, the funding is not renewed by Laing O’Rourke at the end of the ten-year initial funding period.

5. The Board are satisfied that an appointment at this level will be likely to attract a strong field of applicants. They are assured that suitable accommodation is available in the Department of Engineering for the Professor and the core academic staff of the Centre, and the Department has undertaken to provide the necessary support and facilities. The Board have agreed to concur in the view of the Faculty Board of Engineering that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that candidature should be open to all persons whose work falls within the title of the Professorship.

6. The General Board recommend:

That a Laing O’Rourke Professorship of Construction Engineering be established in the University from 1 October 2011 for a single tenure, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Engineering.

2 June 2010	Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor	Simon Franklin	J. Rallison
	N. Bampos	Andrew Gamble	Jeremy Sanders
	William Brown	C. A. Gilligan	Sam Wakeford
	H. A. Chase	David Good	Yang Xia
	Philip Ford	Rachael Padman

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Professorship of Medicine

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz takes up office as Vice-Chancellor on 1 October 2010. Sir Leszek has had a distinguished academic career in the field of immunology and held Professorships at the University of Wales and Imperial College, London before taking up his current appointment as Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council. Immunology and infectious disease is a major research theme spanning the Schools of the Biological Sciences and Clinical Medicine.

2. Following consultation with the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine, and with the concurrence of the Council, the General Board have agreed to propose the establishment of a Professorship of Medicine for Sir Leszek. The single-tenure Professorship, which would be non-clinical, would be tenable, under the provisions of Statute, D, II, 11(b), concurrently with the office of Vice-Chancellor until 30 September 2017. The office of Professor would be held without stipend, under the provisions for leave granted under Statute D, II, 6(b).

3. The General Board accordingly recommend:

That a Professorship of Medicine be established from 1 October 2010 until 30 September 2017 for the tenure of Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, assigned to the Department of Medicine, and placed in Schedule B of the Statutes.

2 June 2010	Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor	Philip Ford	David Good
	N. Bampos	Simon Franklin	Rachael Padman
	William Brown	Andrew Gamble	J. Rallison
	H. A. Chase	C. A. Gilligan	Jeremy Sanders

The Council endorses the recommendations in this Report.

7 June 2010

Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor