Imperial hires first ever Provost

Professor James Stirling CBE FRS has been named the first Provost of Imperial College London.

He will be in charge of all academic matters, and so will be in charge of both education and research. He will report to the President and Rector, who will, in future, be more front facing in the UK and overseas. The position of Provost comes from a separation of the Rector’s former position. Professor Stirling, 59, is currently the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy and Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. He is a theoretical particle physicist. Professor Stirling will take up his role at Imperial by August 2013. His appointment follows an international search to find the first Provost.

Professor Stirling has worked in the UK and overseas. He became a full Professor at the very young age of 39. He founded the particle physics institute at Durham University, where he also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, having been elected in 1999, and has chaired many UK Research Councilscientific committees.

Professor Stirling said that he has “admired Imperial from afar for many years”. He continued: “To me that means excellence in scholarship – both teaching and research – and excellence in innovation and taking our knowledge outwards to address big societal challenges.” He also said: “I am impressed that Imperial has a very clear view on what it needs to do to grow its academic mission and maintain this excellence, and I believe Imperial has everything that it takes to provide a great experience for its students, a wonderfully strong affinity for its alumni and supporters, and a brilliant environment for its staff to teach, discover and innovate”

Announcing the appointment, Keith O’Nions, President & Rector, looked forward to welcoming a man with an “outsanding scientific mind as well as a track record of leadership in universities”.