The nominee for Oxford’s next Vice-Chancellor has been named as Professor Andrew Hamilton, the current Provost of Yale University.
Hamilton will become the 296th Vice-Chancellor when John Hood ends his five-year tenure in October 2009, if Congregation approves the decision made by the Nominating Committee.
He described the decision as “humbling” and “inspiring”.
Dons have suggested that there will be little opposition to the nomination and have largely welcomed the decision to back someone from an academic background – a departure from Hood’s nomination as a candidate with business credentials.
Hamilton is Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, in addition to his role as Provost. He has been recognised internationally for his academic achievements.
Nicholas Bamforth, a member of the University’s Council, said, “It is good to have a distinguished academic nominated for this post.”
A senior member of the University also approved the choice to opt for such a prominent academic. “I very much welcome the fact that Professor Hamilton is a distinguished academic as well as a successful University administrator,” he said.
However another professor has criticised the decision to ignore Oxford’s own candidates and again appoint a V-C from outside the University. He said, “He is clearly a man of ability in terms of academic stature, which is very different to Hood, but he has no connection with Oxford and this is quite clearly undesirable.”
He also claimed that the Nominating Committee, which is chaired by the Oxford Chancellor Lord Patten, was “determined to exclude” candidates from the University’s own academic body and to appoint an “outsider”. He claimed this marked a “continued and gratuitous support for Hood.”
He added that the nomination had been used for the ends of “internal politics”, with the consequence of ignoring candidates from within the University.
Despite this criticism the academic admitted that Congregation was unlikely to seriously challenge Hamilton’s appointment and that any likely opposition would be “small”.
Dons are now looking to the challenges Hamilton would face during his tenure and have suggested a number of key tasks he must tackle in order to lead the University to its future.
A senior academic said the new V-C would need to smooth over rifts between dons that have recently occurred. “His main task will be to heal the divisions on ‘Hoodism’ and ‘anti-Hoodism’ that has risen in the last few years,” he said.
Another member of the University expressed hope that Hamilton could adapt to the Oxford system and go ahead with reforms to the University.
“He comes here from North America where, unlike Oxford, the senior academic officers of universities are appointed rather than elected by their colleagues.
But he will surely have done his research by the time he arrives, and have understood that the most successful Vice-Chancellors have recognised that Oxford is much more like a partnership than like a business corporation, and have conducted themselves as ”primus inter pares” (first among equals) rather than Chief Executives.
“I hope he takes an open-minded look at Oxford and works with his colleagues to make the reforms that are urgently needed to increase the quality and value-for-money of the services provided by the administration,” he said.
Hamilton has been Provost of Yale since 2004 in which time he has lead a number of developments, including the acquisition of a new a 136-acre research campus.
Professor Hamilton announced the nomination in an email to colleagues at Yale on Tuesday. “I am enormously honoured and excited at the prospect of helping steward one of the great centres of scholarship in the world,” he wrote.
Hamilton is held in particularly high regard at Yale where both students and academics say he will be greatly missed.
The President of Yale, Richard Levin, said, “Andy Hamilton has led major initiatives to strengthen Yale in science, engineering, and medicine while at the same time enthusiastically supporting investments in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts. He is a first-rate scholar, who is respected by his faculty colleagues as a wise academic leader.”
A comment on the website of Yale’s student newspaper, Yale Daily News, described Hamilton as “A great guy and a fantastic provost” and added, “Yale will certainly miss him.”
The Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten of Barnes, who chaired the Nominating Committee, said, “Andrew Hamilton’s remarkable combination of proven academic leadership and outstanding scholarly achievement makes him an exceptional choice to help guide us into the second decade of the twenty-first century.”
He added, “This is a particularly exciting time for Oxford and in Professor Hamilton we have someone with the experience and talent to help us take advantage of these opportunities.”
The current Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, said, “I am delighted that Professor Hamilton has been nominated as the next Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, from Autumn 2009. I look forward very much to assisting him in any way I can to prepare for his new role.
“For my own part, I shall remain fully committed over the next sixteen months to the University it is my privilege to serve,” he added.
