Professor James Stirling CBE FRS has accepted appointment as Imperial’s first Provost, taking up the position by August 2013. The new role was created following the changes to Imperial’s leadership model announced in April.
The Provost will be responsible for the delivery of the College’s core mission: education, research and translation, and will report directly to the President & Rector, who will give emphasis to the College’s external affairs including development. The President & Rector and the Provost will together have responsibility for the strategic direction of the College.
Professor Stirling joins Imperial from the University of Cambridge, where he was Head of the Department of Physics from 2011. Completing doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, Professor Stirling joined Durham University as Lecturer in 1989 and became Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Physics in 1992. He was the Founding Director of the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology between 2000 and 2005, and from 2005 to 2008 he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, before joining Cambridge as the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Cavendish Laboratory.
Professor Stirling was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 1992, Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 and was appointed CBE for services to science in 2006. He was a member of the Physics Sub-Panel in two RAE (2001 and 2008) and was Deputy Chair of the 2008 panel. He is a member of the Council of the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Research and Innovation Strategic Advisory Committee.