Appointments

Choreographer Emilyn Claid has been made a professor by University College Falmouth. As associate field director and senior lecturer of choreography at Falmouth, Professor Claid has worked with numerous dance troupes, including the Phoenix Dance Company, and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. She also has internationally acclaimed publications to her name, including Yes? No! Maybe ... Seductive Ambiguity in Dance, a study of choreography derived from her PhD. Thanking the college for the professorship, she said: "My life has been a continuous reinvention of creative endeavour ... a journey from performer to choreographer to academic and researcher, where one practice enhances and becomes another."

John Hood, the outgoing vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, has been named president and chief executive officer of the Robertson Foundation, a private family-led organisation that aims to offer solutions to public-policy problems in the US. Dr Hood will take charge of the foundation after the completion of his five-year term at Oxford in September. The organisation is currently seeking to award large grants in four principal areas: education, environment, religion and medical research. He will take up the role in January 2010 and will be based in New York.

University College Plymouth St Mark and St John has appointed Margaret Noble as its principal. Currently pro vice-chancellor (learning and quality) at the University of Greenwich, Dr Noble is responsible for managing the university's academic development and leading a number of strategies, including learning and teaching, student experience and employability. She has more than 20 years' senior management experience in higher education and has overseen numerous development contracts and projects in the past six years, collectively worth more than £13 million. Dr Noble will take up her new post in September.

A Nigerian university has given an honorary doctorate to the University of Portsmouth's Spencer Onuh for improving the standard of its engineering courses. Dr Onuh, senior lecturer at Portsmouth's department of mechanical and design engineering, was honoured by the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom. He said the award was unexpected and humbling, adding: "I have not been told the reasons for the honorary doctorate, but I suspect it is because I have helped the university get full accreditation for its engineering courses. I have also shipped 15,000 books and journals to it, which helped other departments to get full accreditation."

A vice-principal at the University of St Andrews has been appointed the next director of the British School at Rome, a research centre that investigates the archaeology, history and culture of Italy. Christopher Smith, who is also a proctor and provost of St Leonard's College, St Andrews, and dean of graduate studies at the institution, will take up the post in October after Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, the incumbent director, moves to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Professor Smith's research interests include the social and economic development of early Rome and Latium. He is also the editor of a major project on the fragmentary Roman historians, and he has published books about writers including Plutarch, Pliny the Elder and Aulus Gellius.

A new sports business fellow has been appointed by the University of the West of England as part of its Regional Educational Legacy in Arts and Youth Sport (Relays) project, which aims to engage and develop young people in the South West of England in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Kim Chang has held a number of leadership roles in large sporting events, including the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic games in Sydney and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. He will be responsible for overseeing business engagement linked to the Relays project, as well as researching the impact of sport, physical activity and culture on health and wellbeing.

A former military man has been appointed by De Montfort University as a visiting lecturer in computer security. Roy Isbell, who has more than 30 years' experience designing and implementing secure communications and computer systems, began his career in the British Army as a radio technician. In the early 1980s, he worked on the design of one of the first major computer systems installed by the Ministry of Defence, which linked more than 500 sites worldwide. Mr Isbell's career has seen him work as a consultant, engineer and businessman.

The director of partnerships development at Edinburgh Napier University's Business School has been appointed the next president of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators for the UK, the Republic of Ireland and associated territories. Andy Cowe said: "My key priorities over the next 18 months will be to ensure that we continue to promote the highest standards of governance and that our qualifications and standards meet the requirements of the employment market. The turbulent economic and business environment demonstrates that there has never been a greater need for a clear, authoritative voice in the field of corporate governance."

Peter Overy has been appointed research director at Opinionpanel, which conducts research into the views of students before, during and after their time at university. Former planning director at advertising recruitment agency TMP Worldwide, Mr Overy is an expert in employer branding and graduate recruitment research. Ben Marks, Opinionpanel's managing director, said: "Mr Overy will be adding a new perspective to our offer, helping clients use research in more insightful ways."

The International Baccalaureate's regional director for Africa, Europe and the Middle East is to join the University of London External System, which gives students access to University of London degrees through distance and flexible learning across the world. Andrew Bollington will take responsibility for delivering to more than 45,000 students in 180 countries, as well as finance and staffing issues. Sir Graeme Davies, vice-chancellor of the University of London, said: "Mr Bollington will work to support the first dean of the external system in ensuring that our aims continue to be met."

Viv Caruana has been made a reader in internationalisation at Leeds Metropolitan University. Dr Caruana is a respected researcher in the field, and her most recent publication, The Internationalisation of UK Higher Education: A Review of Selected Material, was commissioned by the Higher Education Academy. She joins from the University of Salford.