The warden of Goldsmiths, University of London has been named the next vice-chancellor of the University of London. Geoffrey Crossick, a specialist in the social and urban history of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, has held positions at the University of Essex and the University of Hull, and is an honorary fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He will become the 50th leader of the institution when he takes over from Sir Graeme Davies in September 2010.
A new pro vice-chancellor has been appointed at the University of Derby. Elizabeth Barnes, currently dean of the School of Social Sciences and Law at Teesside University, takes over from Musa Mihsein, who has been named rector of the Arab Open University, Saudi Arabia. Ms Barnes started her career as a schoolteacher before transferring to higher education and is an institutional auditor for the Quality Assurance Agency. She takes up her new post in February 2010.
The University of Brighton's vice-chancellor has joined the board of the South East England Development Agency. Julian Crampton, a molecular biologist who has led Brighton since 2005, joins the agency, which supports economic development in the region, for three years.
The deputy chairman of the Higher Education Funding Council for England has been appointed pro-chancellor of the University of Birmingham. Ed Smith, who is a former global chief operating officer and strategy chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers' assurance business, will take over from Jim Glover, who has served as university treasurer and pro-chancellor since 2006. The role will reunite Mr Smith with David Eastwood, Birmingham's vice-chancellor, who stepped down as chief executive of Hefce to take up the post in April.
Nottingham Trent University has named the new dean of its School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment. Peter Westland is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Chartered Institute of Building. He was formerly based at Sheffield Hallam University, where he was responsible for overseeing business-development opportunities.
A professor of medical education at St George's, University of London, has been appointed by the Royal Veterinary College to help bolster its expertise in clinical education. Dame Lesley Southgate will join the college's council on a four-year term, taking responsibility for the strategic direction, governance and control of the institution. Dame Lesley previously led a General Medical Council programme to develop assessment methods for medical-performance procedures. She was appointed president of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2000.
An academic from the University of Exeter has been awarded a prize for a book dealing with the relationship between gender, Islam and modernity. Ruba Salih, director of Exeter's masters in gender and identity in the Middle East, was presented with the Pozzale Luigi Russo Prize for Muslim Women Revealed (2008), which examines how female bodies have been crucial in visualising modernity or tradition and Islamism or secularism across different nations and times.
John Alcolado has been named director of medical education at Queen Mary, University of London, a role that spans Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Barking, Redbridge and Havering Hospitals NHS Trust. He is moving from Cardiff University's School of Medicine, where he was a clinical reader in medicine.
Colin Grant has taken on the position of pro vice-chancellor of international relations at the University of Surrey. Formerly head of the School of Arts, Communication and Humanities at the institution, Professor Grant will oversee the running of the Surrey International Institute, which was formed with the Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in China. He will also be responsible for Surrey's Global Partnership Network, which collaborates with universities in China, South America, South Korea and the US.
Two academics have been elected to the executive committee of an organisation that represents business and management education in the UK. Jean Noel-Ezingeard, dean of the faculty of business and law at Kingston University, and Peter McKiernan, head of the School of Management at the University of St Andrews, join the board of the Association of Business Schools (ABS). Howard Thomas, chair of the ABS and dean of the University of Warwick's Business School, is leaving to take up the position of distinguished professor of strategic management and dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University.
A prominent researcher in the field of asthma and allergies has been recruited by the University of Southampton. Hasan Arshad, director of the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre at St Mary's Hospital in Newport, Isle of Wight, takes on the position of professor of allergy and clinical immunology at Southampton.
A married couple have been presented with a prize for their contribution to the understanding of neurology and psychology. Chris and Uta Frith, both emeritus professors at University College London and visiting professors at Aarhus University in Denmark, were awarded the European Latsis Prize by the European Science Foundation for their research focusing on the relationship between the human brain and mind. The prize also recognises that their work has achieved societal impact and contributed to European progress. They were presented with prize money of SwFr100,000 (£60,000).
A former engineer at Google has been appointed reader in security and dependability at City University London. Robert Stroud joins the Centre for Software Reliability, where he will be involved in an initiative to expand research into digital forensics and security, as well as teaching new masters and continuing professional development courses in resilience, assurance and risk management for computer-based systems.
The Robert Gordon University has appointed Susan Craw as director of its new IDEAS Research Institute for Innovation, Design and Sustainability. The centre will build on the university's success in the field of design and technology, focusing on the themes of energy and sustainability, art and design, and digital technology.