Appointments

A prominent researcher in health economics has been appointed to a new chair at Glasgow Caledonian University. Cam Donaldson, director of the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University, will take on the newly created Yunus chair in social business and health. The post is named after Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for establishing the Grameen Bank, a microfinance organisation. Professor Donaldson will also head Glasgow Caledonian's new Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health.

An e-learning expert from the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands has been awarded a visiting professorship as part of a government scheme to develop an online dental school. Frank Rennie, professor of sustainable rural development at the UHI Millennium Institute, will collaborate on the £2.3 million International Virtual Dental School project, which aims to provide dental education online. He will take on the visiting post at King's College London, where the project is based.

Wendy Xerri has been named director of knowledge and information at Trinity University College, Carmarthen. The role will involve her masterminding the management of data at Trinity and the University of Wales, Lampeter prior to their merger later this year. Ms Xerri joins Trinity from the International Baccalaureate's offices in Cardiff, where she was global chief information officer and IT director.

A former managing director of ING Bank has taken up the post of director of development at the University of St Andrews. Patrick Degg has more than 15 years' experience in international finance, and has previously held senior posts with BNP Paribas and HSBC. He will take responsibility for an international fundraising campaign to mark St Andrews' 600th anniversary in 2013.

The University of East Anglia has named an alumnus as dean of its faculty of arts and humanities. David Peters Corbett, professor of art history at the University of York, will take over from Jon Cook, who has held the post since 2004. Professor Corbett is editor of the journal Art History and founding director of York's Centre for Modern Studies. He is also a fellow of the Leverhulme Trust and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A physicist from the University of Manchester is to be honoured by the US National Academy of Sciences. Andre Geim, the Langworthy and Royal Society 2010 Anniversary research professor of physics, will receive the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science for his discovery of graphene, a versatile carbon substance that is expected to succeed silicon in electronics. Professor Geim will be presented with a medal and $25,000 (£15,600) at the academy's annual meeting in April.

The University of Oxford has appointed a new director of continuing professional development. Adrian Stokes is currently director of masters programmes and continuing professional development at the University of Warwick Medical School, where he has overseen the development of a new accreditation framework. He will take up the post in March.

An academic from Nottingham Trent University has been named Law Teacher of the Year 2010 by the UK Centre for Legal Education. Rebecca Huxley-Binns, senior lecturer in law, beat five other candidates following a judging process that included observation of their teaching methods and interviews with students and managers. She picked up the award and £3,000 in prize money last month.

A professor at Imperial College London has been appointed to a top scientific post in the Welsh Assembly Government. John Harries, professor of Earth observation in the department of physics, has been named Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales. He becomes the second chief scientific adviser at Imperial: John Beddington, professor of applied population biology, took up the role for the UK Government in 2007. Professor Harries' previous research has shown evidence of the link between greenhouse gas emissions and rising global temperatures.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Salford, Martin Hall, has been appointed to an organisation charged with promoting open access. Following Salford's decision to provide free access to its research findings online, Professor Hall will join the board of Enabling Open Scholarship, an international organisation that aims to promote the "opening up of scholarship and research".

Colette Henry has been made Norbrook professor of business and enterprise at the Royal Veterinary College, where she will head the new Centre for Veterinary and Bioveterinary Enterprise. The newly created position, which is funded by Norbrook Laboratories, will involve Professor Henry developing teaching at the institution, as well as supporting "innovative business practices" in the sector.

A law professor at Queen's University Belfast has been appointed to an independent panel that will oversee the release of documents associated with the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, in which 96 people died. As a member of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, Phil Scraton will be involved in making recommendations for establishing a permanent archive for the documents. He will also be charged with producing a report to explain how the information will add to public understanding of the tragedy. Professor Scraton is author of Hillsborough: The Truth (1999) and has researched and published extensively on the disaster, its context, aftermath and long-term consequences.

An international business expert and professor at the University of Leeds has been presented with an honorary degree by a Swedish university. Peter Buckley, director of the Centre for International Business at Leeds, was awarded the accolade by Uppsala University. He said: "I have had strong connections with Uppsala since my first visit there in 1977 and it is a great honour to be recognised by a faculty with an outstanding track record in international business research and scholarship."

A professor at the University of Essex is the sole academic to be named on the Financial Power List 2010. Prem Sikka, professor of accounting at Essex Business School, joins the likes of Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, on the list of the 50 most influential people in the financial world. The list was compiled by business magazine Accountancy Age.