'I feel goldsmiths is a place I really have something to contribute to'

Geoffrey Crossick is off to Goldsmiths, having had an exciting time overseeing the changes at the AHRB

Geoffrey Crossick, chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board, is to replace the late Ben Pimlott as warden of Goldsmiths, University of London. He will take up the post in May.

"Being chief executive of the AHRB as it made the transition to research council has been enormously exciting," Professor Crossick said.

"Since joining the AHRB in 2002, nowhere else has interested me until Goldsmiths came along.

"Goldsmiths is a special place. It's a high-quality institution in terms of research and teaching, and it's a member of the 1994 group of smaller research-intensive universities. But it has its heart in arts and humanities and social sciences, engaging very much with issues such as creative arts, cultural analysis, new technologies and new ways of understanding society and culture. I feel this is a place I really have something to contribute to."

Professor Crossick is a historian with extensive academic experience. He graduated with a first from Cambridge University in 1967 and did his PhD at Birbeck, University of London. He specialises in the social history of Britain and continental Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and comparative history as a problem for historical analysis.

From 1991, he worked at Essex University, culminating with five years as pro vice-chancellor for academic development.

"My predecessor moved from the AHRB to a research-intensive university and I will do the same. I think it's a sign of the standing of the AHRB," Professor Crossick said.

Anthea Lipsett