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No 6436

Monday 26 September 2016

Vol cxlvii No 2

pp. 11–12

Notices

Office of Vice-Chancellor: Nomination of candidate

In its Notice dated 18 January 2016 (Reporter, 6411, 2015–16, p. 325) the Council announced that it had commenced the process for the appointment of a successor to Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, W, whose term of office will expire on 30 September 2017, by appointing an Advisory Committee in accordance with Regulation 1 of the Special Regulations for the Vice-Chancellor (Statutes and Ordinances, 2015, p. 661). The Council now gives notice that it is today submitting a Grace (Grace 1, p. 12, below) for the appointment of Professor Stephen John Toope, T, A.B., Harvard, LL.B., B.C.L., McGill, Ph.D., T, Officer of the Order of Canada, as Vice-Chancellor for seven years from 1 October 2017. Professor Toope is currently Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and was President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia between 2006 and 2014.

In submitting this Grace the Council wishes to record how, with the advice of its Advisory Committee, it has undertaken the process. The Advisory Committee was chaired by Professor Ian White, Van Eck Professor of Engineering and Master of Jesus College. The Advisory Committee appointed Perrett Laver to assist the University in its appointment of a Vice-Chancellor to take up office from 1 October 2017. Following a series of open meetings for members of the University, and preliminary discussions with University leaders in the UK and the USA to obtain their perceptions of Cambridge and their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges facing global higher education, the office was advertised nationally and internationally. Nominations and applications were invited. As a result, the Advisory Committee initially considered 116 names (91M, 25F). With the involvement of senior University and College officers, the Advisory Committee held discussions with a long-list of ten persons (7M, 3F) in Cambridge. Subsequent discussions were held with a smaller number of these persons. The Council is grateful to all those who took part in these discussions. At the conclusion of this process, the Council held a formal interview with each of three candidates. The Council believes that as a result of the procedure that it and the Advisory Committee have followed, the University can have full confidence in the thorough and inclusive way with which their nomination to the Regent House has been determined.

The Council took the view that on this occasion the office of Vice-Chancellor should be held for a single term of seven years rather than for a shorter initial period with the possibility of renewal as permitted by Statute. Accordingly it recommends that the appointment of Professor Toope be made for seven years under the provisions of Statute C III 2.