Press Releases
University of Wales, Lampeter appoints new Vice-Chancellor
The University of Wales, Lampeter, announces that it has appointed Professor Robert Pearce, Professor of the Law of Property and Equity at the University of Buckingham as its next Vice-Chancellor in succession to Professor Keith Robbins, who will be retiring on 30th September 2003.
Mr Raymond White, President of the University of
Wales, Lampeter, says:
"We are delighted that Professor Robert Pearce has accepted the appointment
as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, Lampeter from 1st October 2003.
He will be joining the University as Vice-Chancellor Designate from 1st July
to enable him to benefit from the experience of Professor Keith Robbins and familiarize
himself with the operation of the University.
Professor Pearce will be taking up his appointment at a particularly interesting time as the University faces up to the challenges set out in the Strategy of the National Assembly for Wales. He brings to the post an outstanding record of achievement. During his short period as the acting Vice-Chancellor at the University of Buckingham, student numbers increased by 10 per cent and income levels rose by 14 per cent. He is well equipped to build upon the reputation of the University of Wales, Lampeter both in research and academic achievement. The University has been particularly successful through innovation and initiative in adapting to a changing student market.
I am confident that Professor Pearce will continue the excellent work carried out by Professor Keith Robbins over more than one decade."
Professor Robert Pearce says: "I am very much looking forward to joining the University of Wales, Lampeter, later this year. Whilst remaining true to its traditional values in the humanities and liberal arts, the University has also operated at the cutting edge in developing distance learning programmes. The University has an international reputation as the oldest degree-awarding institution in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge; it draws students from throughout the British Isles as well as from overseas; and it plays an important role in Wales, particularly in its local region. Under the leadership of Professor Keith Robbins it has developed an enviable portfolio of research, and it is well positioned to strengthen its contribution to scholarship, higher education, and economic development within the framework set out by the Welsh Assembly Government in its strategy document, Reaching Higher. This year the University celebrates its 175th anniversary, and it can look to the future with confidence.
Notes to the Editor:
Biographical note: Professor Pearce was educated
at Grammar Schools in Birmingham, Bristol and Gloucester
before studying law at Pembroke College, Oxford University.
He has held academic positions at the Universities
of Newcastle upon Tyne, Lancaster, University College
Cork (part of the National University of Ireland),
and at the University of Western Ontario. He has
been Professor in Law at the University of Buckingham
since 1990, where he was successively Pro-Vice-Chancellor,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor.
He is the author of a number of academic texts including
a leading student textbook on the Law of Trusts and
Equitable Obligations, now in its third edition.
He has also been an academic auditor for the Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education and its predecessor,
the Higher Education Quality Council, since 1993.
He has recently completed a term of office as external
examiner at Cardiff University.
In addition to his academic work, Professor Robert Pearce is currently Chair of Parkside Housing Group, a dynamic and rapidly growing group of social businesses providing housing and community care, and Vice-Chair of Rycotewood College, a specialist college of further education which is about to link with Oxford College and North Oxfordshire College to create a new institution with over 17,000 students.
For further information, please contact:
Dr Jane Norris-Hill
Direct Tel: 01570 424799
Email: j.norris-hill@lamp.ac.uk
Postal Address: University of Wales, Lampeter, Ceredigion. SA48 7ED
