Sir Andrew Witty was officially installed as the seventh Chancellor of The University of Nottingham at a ceremony on 12 March.
Sir Andrew, Chief Executive Officer of GlaxoSmithKline, graduated from The University of Nottingham in 1985 with a BA in Economics. For pictures of the event - click here.
Sir Andrew said of his installation: “I never expected to become Chancellor of the University. I was shocked and honoured two years ago to be given an honorary degree, which was far in excess of anything that I thought would happen to me.
“To then get a phone a couple of years later and be asked to undertake this role was breathtaking and I was super honoured to be asked and regard it as a great privilege.
“Universities are truly remarkable institutions and I think generally in Britain we are very lucky to have a few of the world’s greatest universities and I always felt I was even lucky to be a student at one of them. Now, to have the chance to hopefully give a little more back, and to help the Vice-Chancellor and the Council to think about things to help it to continue to be so successful is a real honour and a great opportunity and I look forward to it enormously. I never thought it would happen and it didn’t take me long to say yes as I have such a strong affinity to the institution.”
Sir Andrew became Chief Executive Officer of GSK in 2008 and was knighted for services to the economy and to the UK pharmaceutical industry in the 2012 New Year Honours.
Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor, said: “All of the qualities Sir Andrew brings (to the role) will help us as a University to address the challenges we face in a pretty rapidly changing education environment. He will bring new contacts, he will bring new qualities and he will bring a set of leadership skills that have been developed in a global environment, which will be a real asset to our University.
“He was a student of this University and he will now be the Chancellor and I am thrilled and excited at the prospect of working with him, to not only cherish the heritage we have, but most importantly to look to the future that beckons.”
The Chancellor has a number of key roles including ceremonial duties – playing a formal part in graduation ceremonies – and acting as an ambassador and advocate of the University in the UK and around the world. He also acts as a key adviser on matters of major strategic importance to the development of the University. It is an unremunerated role.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottinghamhas 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’, according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. More news…