Appointments

The Royal College of Music has appointed to director Colin Lawson , professor and pro vice-chancellor of Thames Valley University where he is dean of the London College of Music and Media. He will succeed Janet Ritterman on September 1 2005.

Christopher Snowden , professor of microwave engineering at Leeds University, visiting professor in physics at Durham University and joint chief executive officer at Filtronic plc, has been appointed vice-chancellor of Surrey University. He will succeed Patrick Dowling on his retirement on June 30 2005.

Patrick Marber , award-winning playwright, writer and former comedian, has been appointed visiting professor of contemporary theatre at Oxford University.

Stephen Nickell , member of the Monetary Policy Committee and professor of economics at the London School of Economics since 1998, former professor and director of the Institute of Economics and statistics at Oxford University, has been appointed warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, and will succeed Tony Atkinson, who is standing down on August 31 2005.

Julia King , chief executive of the Institute of Physics and chairman of the Defence Science Advisory Council of the Ministry of Defence and a member of the council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, has been appointed principal of the faculty of engineering at Imperial College London.

Alun Jones , reader in geography at University College London, has been appointed professor of human geography at Leicester University and will take up his post in September 2004.