Professor
Andrew Wathey, CBE has announced his intention to step down as Vice-Chancellor
and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, Newcastle, on 1st May
2022.
The University’s Board of Governors, led
by Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods, Chair of the Board and Pro-Chancellor, will now
begin the process of appointing the next Vice-Chancellor.
Professor Wathey was appointed to Northumbria as Vice-Chancellor
and Chief Executive in 2008. He held posts at Oxford and Cambridge before moving to Royal Holloway
University of London in 1989, where he was appointed Professor of Music History
in 1999, Vice-Principal in 2003 and subsequently Senior Vice-Principal. In
2016 Professor Wathey was recognised in the New Year Honours list for services
to Higher Education. Over the course of his time as Vice-Chancellor, Professor
Wathey has served on a number of national HE sector bodies and committees and
is currently a Board member of the Student Loans Company and the Quality
Assurance Agency.
An honour to have played a part in the University’s
transformation
In a statement to staff, Professor Wathey said: “It has been an unparalleled privilege
to lead this great University, to work alongside brilliant and committed colleagues
and students, and to collaborate with our world-class partners, here in the UK
and globally. Northumbria has transformed into a vibrant realisation of its
ambition to be a research-rich, business-focussed, professional university, a
new kind of excellent university taking on tomorrow, and stands ready to take
on the opportunities and challenges of a post-pandemic future. It has been an
honour to have played a part in this transformation.”
Professor Wathey added that
his retirement would provide a chance to explore new opportunities to
contribute to higher education and public life, while pursuing his own academic
interests in musicology.
Commenting
on the Vice-Chancellor’s announcement, Dr
Blackman-Woods, said: “Andrew Wathey has been an outstanding
Vice-Chancellor during his tenure at the University of Northumbria. He has
overseen a hugely successful transformation of the University into one that is
widely recognised as being a challenger institution, well placed to address the
demands and opportunities of the future. He set a truly ambitious vision and
strategy for the University, and during his tenure the University’s research,
its approach to access, and the professionalism and the strength of its academic
community have been transformed, alongside developments in the estate. As a strong advocate of partnership and
collaboration, he has driven the University’s economic, social and cultural
contribution to the North East. Northumbria’s international activity, reach
and global prominence have also grown rapidly, with partnerships and
collaborative agreements across the globe. Professor Wathey has made an enormous
contribution to securing a very positive future for Northumbria University, to
supporting the Higher Education sector more widely both nationally and
internationally, and to the region locally. He will be hugely missed by staff,
students and external partners."
