Richmond welcomes new President & Provost

03/08/2011

Richmond, The American International University in London, is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor John Annette as President and of Professor Phil Deans as Provost. Professor Annette’s appointment follows the retirement of Dr Ian Newbould who has returned to Canada. Professor Robert Leppard has retired as Provost but will continue as a Special Advisor to the President and Provost of the University.

Professor John Annette was appointed President of RAIUL on August 1st 2011 and is the University’s 8th President. He joins Richmond from Birkbeck College, University of London where he held a number of senior positions, latterly as Pro Vice Master or Vice-President, until his departure in July 2011.

Professor Annette is a member of the 1994 Group of Universities ‘Strategy and Resources’ Senior Management Group and a member of the Academic Board of the University of London’s ‘International Academy’. He is also advisor to the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s ‘Beacons for Public Engagement in Higher Education’ and the Higher Education Academy UK. He was recently a Commissioner on the Commission on the Future of Volunteering chaired by Baroness Julia Neuberger. He is an advisor to the UK Department for Children, Families and Schools on youth volunteering and citizenship education and also the UK Department for Communities and Local Government on citizenship and community development. More recently he has been advising the UK Cabinet Office on the National Citizens Service. He is also a member of the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Civic Engagement based in the USA.

Professor Annette is excited by the opportunity of working with staff, students and trustees of the University to maintain its academic excellence and realize its vision as a unique international university enabling graduates to benefit from an American liberal arts education, to be well prepared for global employment opportunities and to become global citizens. Professor Annette will be arranging meetings with faculty, staff and students over the next few weeks to set out the University's plans for the new academic year.

Professor Phil Deans started at Richmond in May 2011. Prior to his appointment, he worked for six years in Tokyo, Japan where he was Chief Academic Officer at Temple University. A political scientist by training, he has particular expertise in China and Japan. He also has a strong professional interest in theories of higher education management in relation to internationalization and globalization of the university sector.

Professor Deans commented on his appointment, “I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to work at Richmond University and to help it realize its huge potential. At a time of great change in UK higher education, Richmond is ideally placed to offer a liberal arts alternative to the UK model and to provide students with a unique experience. I have already been impressed by the quality and commitment of the academic staff and can see the clear benefits that small class sizes and close interaction with teachers is having on our students”.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1173.aspx