Bristol University is a breeding ground for vice-chancellors, it would appear. Four geographers who got PhDs from Bristol in the 1970s have recently been appointed vice-chancellor: Richard Davies (Swansea), Paul Curran (Bournemouth), Nigel Thrift (Warwick) and Bill Macmillan (East Anglia), not to mention David Rhind, City University's vice-chancellor who has a BSc from Bristol, and the two current members of the department who are former vice-chancellors.