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Rector of the University of Glasgow

Senior post within the University of Glasgow

Summary

Senior post within the University of Glasgow

The tower of the [[University of Glasgow]] above [[Kelvingrove Park

The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university and raise issues which concern them. In order to achieve this, the rector is the statutory chair of the Court, the governing body of the university.

The position's place in the university was enshrined by statute in the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889, which provided for the election of a rector at all of the universities in existence at the time in Scotland (being St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh). Students of the University of Dundee also elect a rector.

The latest rectorial election was concluded on 26 March 2024, and featured four candidates: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Susan McCabe, Paul Sweeney MSP, and Lady Rita Rae, who was seeking re-election. Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who received over 80% of the votes, was consequently installed as rector on the 11th of April 2024.

Former rectors

Students have not always voted for working rectors; anti-apartheid activists Winnie Mandela (1987–1990) and Albert Lutuli (1962–1965) were elected on the understanding that they would be unable to undertake the position's responsibilities, while Mordechai Vanunu (2005–2008) was unable to fulfil his duties as he was not allowed to leave Israel and Edward Snowden (2014–2017) was not expected to fulfill his duties due to an ongoing self-imposed exile in Russia. However, other recent Rectors have been elected on the presumption they will be working rectors, e.g. Ross Kemp (1999–2000), who resigned from the post after the Students' Representative Council voted to request his resignation, such was the extent of student dissatisfaction with his performance. At the Rectorial election in February 2004, no nominations for the post of rector had been received. Upon the end of Greg Hemphill's term, the university was left without a rector for the first time in the position's history. The University Senate set another election date for December, when Mordechai Vanunu was elected. The post was left vacant for a second time at the end of Aamer Anwar's term in March 2020, with the scheduled Rectorial election postponed until March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous rector was Lady Rita Rae, who was the first woman to hold the position in a standing capacity in the University's history. However, during her term she faced heavy criticism from the student body due to her alleged absenteeism, which she denied.

Nations

Until 1977, for Rectorial election purposes, the university was divided into four 'nations' based on the students' birthplace, originally called Clidisdaliae, Thevidaliae, Albaniae and Rosay, and later as Glottiana, Loudoniana, Transforthana and Rothseiana. Three of the 'nations' consisted of defined areas in Scotland, with Loudoniana consisting of students from all other places.

List of rectors

Years	Name	Nationality	Biography
1648–1650	Robert Ramsay	SCO	Clergyman
1690–1691	David Boyle	SCO	Lord Clerk Register
1691–1718	Sir John Maxwell of Nether Park	SCO	Commissioner for Renfrewshire in the Scottish Parliament

Years	Name	Nationality	Biography
1691–1718	Sir John Maxwell of Nether Park	SCO	Commissioner for Renfrewshire in the Scottish Parliament
1718–1720	Mungo Graham of Gorthie	SCO	Commr. justiciary for Highlands
1720–1723	Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the elder	SCO	Lord President of the Court of Session
1723–1725	James Hamilton of Aikenhead	SCO
1725–1726	Sir Hugh Montgomerie of Hartfield	SCO
1726–1729	George Ross	SCO	Master of Ross, 13th Lord Ross
1729–1731	Francis Dunlop of Dunlop	SCO
1731–1733	John Orr of Barrowfield	SCO
1733–1738	Colin Campbell of Blythswood	SCO
1738–1740	George Bogle of Daldowie,	SCO	Glasgow Tobacco Lord
1740–1742	John Graham of Dugalston	SCO
1742–1743	John Orr of Barrowfield	SCO
1743–1746	George Bogle of Daldowie	SCO
1746–1748	Sir John Maxwell of Pollock	SCO
1748–1750	George Bogle of Daldowie	SCO
1750–1753	Sir John Maxwell of Pollock	SCO
1753–1755	William Mure of Caldwell	SCO
1755–1757	John Boyle	SCO	The 3rd Earl of Glasgow
1757–1759	Patrick Boyle, Lord Shewalton	SCO
1759–1761	James Milliken of Milliken	SCO
1761–1763	The 15th Earl of Erroll	SCO	Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
1763–1764	Thomas Miller	SCO	Lord Glenlee, Lord Advocate
1764–1767	William Mure of Caldwell	SCO
1767–1768	Dunbar Douglas	SCO	The 4th Earl of Selkirk
1768–1770	Sir Adam Ferguson of Kilkerran	SCO
1770–1772	Robert Ord	SCO
1772–1773	Lord Frederick Campbell	SCO	Parliamentarian, Lord Clerk Register
1773–1775	Charles Schaw Cathcart,	SCO	9th Lord Cathcart, General (British Army), Ambassador to Russia
1775–1777	Sir James William Montgomery	SCO	Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
1777–1779	Andrew Stewart of Torrance	SCO
1779–1781	The 7th Earl of Lauderdale	SCO	Scottish representative peer
1781–1783	Henry Dundas	SCO	Lord Advocate
1783–1785	Edmund Burke	IRE	Philosopher
1785–1787	Robert Graham of Gartmore	SCO	Parliamentarian, former student
1787–1789	Prof. Adam Smith	SCO	Professor of Moral Philosophy, author of The Wealth of Nations, former student
1789–1791	Walter Campbell of Shawfield	SCO
1791–1793	Thomas Kennedy of Dunure	SCO
1793–1795	William Mure of Caldwell	SCO
1795–1797	William McDowell of Garthland	SCO
1797–1799	George Oswald of Auchencruive	SCO
1799–1801	Lord Succoth	SCO	Lord Justice General

Years	Name	Nationality	Biography
1799–1801	Lord Succoth	SCO	Lord Justice General
1801–1803	Lord Craig	SCO
1803–1805	Robert Dundas of Arniston	SCO	Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
1805–1807	Henry Glassford of Dugalston	SCO
1807–1809	Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont	SCO	Lord Advocate
1809–1811	Archibald Campbell of Blythswood	SCO
1811–1813	Lord Archibald Hamilton	SCO	parliamentarian
1813–1815	General The 1st Baron Lynedoch	SCO	Previously styled, up until May 1814, as General Sir Thomas Graham
1815–1817	Lord Boyle	SCO	Lord Justice Clerk
1817–1819	The 4th Earl of Glasgow	SCO	Prominent Scottish peer
1819–1820	Kirkman Finlay	SCO	Lord Provost of Glasgow
1820–1822	Francis Jeffrey	SCO	Senator of the College of Justice, former student
1822–1824	Sir James Mackintosh	SCO	Jurist
1824–1826	Henry Brougham	SCO	Lord Chancellor 1830–1834
1826–1829	Thomas Campbell	SCO	Poet, former student
1829–1831	The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne	ENG	Chancellor of the Exchequer
1831–1834	Henry Thomas Cockburn	SCO	Senator of the College of Justice
1834–1836	Lord Stanley	ENG	a later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1836–1838	Sir Robert Peel	ENG	2nd Bt., the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1838–1840	Sir James Graham	SCO	2nd Bt., Home Secretary
1840–1842	The 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane	SCO	parliamentarian, former Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
1842–1844	Fox Maule	SCO	parliamentarian and a later Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
1844–1846	Andrew Rutherfurd	SCO	Lord Advocate
1846–1847	Lord John Russell	ENG	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1847–1848	William Mure of Caldwell	SCO	classical scholar, parliamentarian
1848–1850	Thomas Babington Macaulay	ENG	Parliamentarian
1850–1852	Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Bt.	SCO	Institutional legal writer
1852–1854	The 13th Earl of Eglinton	SCO	a former (and a later) Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1854–1856	The 8th Duke of Argyll	SCO	parliamentarian
1856–1859	Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton	ENG	writer and politician
1859–1862	The 8th Earl of Elgin	SCO	Viceroy of India 1862–1863
1862–1865	The 3rd Viscount Palmerston	ENG	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1865–1868	Lord Glencorse	SCO	Lord President of the Court of Session
1868–1871	The 15th Earl of Derby	ENG	a former (and a later) Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1871–1877	Benjamin Disraeli (1st Earl of Beaconsfield from 1876)	ENG	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1877–1880	William Ewart Gladstone	ENG	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1880–1883	John Bright	ENG	Quaker, activist
1883–1884	Henry Fawcett	ENG	economist and parliamentarian
1884–1887	Edmund Law Lushington	ENG	Professor of Greek
1887–1890	The 1st Earl of Lytton	ENG	former Viceroy of India
1890–1893	A.J. Balfour	SCO	former Chief Secretary for Ireland and a later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1893–1896	Sir John Eldon Gorst	ENG	Solicitor-General for England and Wales
1896–1899	Joseph Chamberlain	ENG	statesman, father of Sir Austen Chamberlain (Rector 1925–1928)
1899–1902	The 5th Earl of Rosebery	SCO	former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1999–2000	Ross Kemp	ENG	actor

2024-present	Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah	Palestine	War surgeon who operated in Gaza during the Gaza war

References

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References

"University of Glasgow - University of Glasgow Rectorial Election 2024".
"UofG Rector Installed".
"Lady Rita Rae appointed Rector".
Horne, Marc. (2024-04-19). "Lady Rae accused of being ‘absentee rector’ at Glasgow University".
(2023-11-15). "Lady Rita Rae: An interview with the Glasgow University rector".
[http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townhistory338.html Historical perspective for Glasgow]
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-26243567 Edward Snowden elected as rector of Glasgow University]

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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