Fifty years of change in the English university system; Three decades in leadership positions
Sir Martin Harris
President of Clare Hall
Venue: Richard Eden Suite, West Court

From the earliest years of my career as a university teacher and researcher, I have been involved in the management and in due course the leadership firstly of my own institution and later of the British university system more generally. 

I will focus in my talk on a number of general themes, in particular the changing nature of the student body and how this has been financed, including attitudes to Fair Access, and on the funding of the system more generally. 

I will talk about some of the issues involved in being the Vice President (Salford) and President (Essex, Manchester) of three very different universities and conclude with a few remarks on the very different role of being President of a small and quite atypical Cambridge College. 

I shall allude to some of my national experience, such as the establishment of research assessment in 1985/6 and current struggles with pension provision, and I’ll include some anecdotes about the pleasures and pitfalls of university leadership.

---