Sir Martin Harris has served as Chancellor of the University of Salford, Vice-Chancellor of two universities - Essex and Manchester - and as Chairman of the Committee for Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), now Universities UK. At Manchester, he was the architect of the remarkably successful merger between the (Victoria) University of Manchester and University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

Sir Martin has also served on many national bodies, including as a member of the University Grants Committee, Chairman of the Clinical Standards Advisory Group, Commissioner for Health Improvement and Deputy Chairman of the North West Regional Development Agency.

He is currently Chairman of the Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited (USS) and Director of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA).

Sir Martin's early academic interests were in the area of Romance Linguistics. After a successful career as a researcher and teacher, culminating in his election to the Chair of Romance Linguistics at the University of Salford, he was recruited into academic leadership. His wide-ranging skills in this sphere have been long-recognised and much sought-after. His services to the Biomedical Sciences were acknowledged in 2005 by the award of an Honorary FRCP. He was knighted in the Millennium Honours List.