Legal liability

Strathclyde University has been celebrating the 200th anniversary of its foundation by John Anderson, who was himself a distinguished professor at Glasgow University.

Principal John Arbuthnott has been asking whether, were Anderson alive today, Strathclyde would wish to headhunt him. His publications record was excellent, Professor Arbuthnott admitted, his Institutes of Physics running to five editions, and he was a fellow of the Royal Society. But his outside interests included raising actions in the Court of Session against the university and his fellow professors, agitating for university reform, and inciting the townspeople to condemn the university authorities. He even once sued his principal. "Could Strathclyde afford the legal bills?" Professor Arbuthnott wondered.