Sir Howard Newby, vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton, has been appointed chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Sir Howard, 52, president of Universities UK (formally the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals), will succeed Sir Brian Fender in October next year.
Before joining Southampton in 1994, he was professor of sociology at the University of Essex and chairman and chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council.
Sir Howard said: "I am looking forward to sustaining and developing the excellence of English higher education in an increasingly competitive global environment."