[08
NOV 00] UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK NEWS
Warwick Appoints New Vice-Chancellor
The
University of Warwick has appointed Professor V David VandeLinde as
its next Vice-Chancellor to replace Sir Brian Follett, who steps down
in April.
 The
decision to appoint Professor VandeLinde as Vice-Chancellor of Warwick
was unanimously approved by the University's Council and Senate
yesterday.
Prof
VandeLinde will join Warwick from the University of Bath where he has
been Vice-Chancellor since 1992. He is due to take up his position in
August 2001.
He
was born and educated in the United States, training in electrical
engineering at Carnegie-Mellon and developing his academic career at
Johns Hopkins University.
In
1978 he became the founding Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering
at Johns Hopkins, which, under his leadership, became recognised as
one of the top engineering schools in the US.
During
the eight years that Professor VandeLinde has been Vice-Chancellor of
the University of Bath its reputation has grown rapidly.
The
university is in the top ten in the three main university league
tables and is ranked sixth out of 100 British universities in the most
recent Research Assessment Exercise.
Prof
VandeLinde said:
"I
am very excited about being named the Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Warwick.
“Warwick
is now well established within the UK's ‘Ivy League’ and I look
forward to the opportunity and challenge both professionally and
personally to lead Warwick in becoming recognised as a world-class
research university."
"At
the same time, it was a difficult decision for me to leave The
University of Bath where I served as Vice-Chancellor for over eight
years.
“I
feel, however, that I accomplished what I set out to do at Bath and
will leave the university in a position of strength, well entrenched
in the top ten rankings of the major UK league tables."
Rhys
Williams, Chairman of the Council welcomed Professor VandeLinde's
appointment saying:
"Higher
education in the UK stands at a crossroads. Universities face many
challenges over the next five years: we need to find new sources of
income, build Warwick's reputation as a truly international
institution and take advantage of the tremendous opportunities for
teaching and research from the IT revolution.
“The
University of Warwick is extremely fortunate to have appointed David
VandeLinde to guide us through these challenges, a man with more
than 20 years senior management experience in British and American
universities."
Prof
Stuart Palmer, current Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Chair of the Physics
Department at Warwick, will be acting Vice-Chancellor in the interim
period.
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