Lord Dearing, who chaired the 1997 national committee of inquiry into higher education, has been appointed chairman of the University for Industry.
Tony Greener, chairman of international food and drinks group Diageo plc, has been appointed vice-chairman.
Patrick Salter, former professor of physiotherapy and head of department at Queen Margaret College, has become dean of the faculty of health studies at Napier University.
The Scottish Office has announced the ten members of the new Scottish Further Education Funding Council. They are: Joyce Johnston, principal of Fife College; Michael Thorne, deputy principal of Napier University; Tom McCool, former chief executive of the Scottish Vocational Education Council; David Batty of Babcock Rosyth Defence Ltd; Bill Gold of NEC Semiconductors (UK) Ltd; John Gray, former finance director of Scottish Hydro-Electric; chartered accountants Brian Minto and Alan Tripp; political management consultant Esther Roberton; and corporate governance lawyer Fred Shedden.
The first Margaret Thatcher professor of enterprise studies will be Alan Hughes, director of Cambridge University's centre for business research and now helping the Department of Trade and Industry and British Bankers' Association evaluate the impact of financial management training and small business performance.
Mr Hughes will take the post, set up with a Pounds 2 million endowment from the Margaret Thatcher Foundation to Cambridge's Judge Institute of Management Studies, in October.