News archive 2004

New Principal takes up post

27 Sep 2004, PR 61/04

Professor Rick Trainor takes up his post as Principal of King’s College London on the start of term today (27 September 2004).

Previously Professor Trainor, BA MA DPhil FRHistS AcSS FKC, was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich as well as Professor of Social History. Prior to joining Greenwich he was Senior Vice-Principal at the University of Glasgow.

He said of his new role at King’s:

‘I’m excited by the challenge of leading King’s, a renowned centre of excellence in research and teaching. It will be especially interesting to do so during a challenging period of major change in higher education. I look forward very much to meeting and working with colleagues and students. I’m also eager to begin dealing with the College’s various external partners – international, national, regional and local.’

Professor Richard Trainor was appointed following the retirement of Professor Arthur Lucas CBE, in 2003. The appointment is made by the Crown, on the recommendation of the College Council. Professor Barry Ife has been Acting Principal for the last year and is now Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

During his time at Greenwich, Professor Trainor reorganised the University's internal structure and campuses while introducing a strategy focusing on 'nurturing excellence' in all of Greenwich's activities. He has also emphasised collaboration with other universities, in particular the development of a joint campus with the University of Kent.

At the University of Glasgow, Professor Trainor introduced the institution’s first staffing strategy and played an active part in improving research (RAE) and teaching (TQA) performances.

He has been heavily involved in the application of information technology to university teaching, especially in history and related subjects. His research interests focus on the composition and impact of urban elites in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. At King’s he will hold the title of Professor of Social History.

Following education at Brown and Princeton in his native USA, Professor Trainor took his doctorate at Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and junior research fellow. In 1979 he took up his first appointment at Glasgow, where he was subsequently Dean of Social Sciences before becoming Vice-Principal.

Professor Trainor is a member of the Academy of the Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He chairs the London Metropolitan Network and (from October) the Advisory Council of the Institute of Historical Research. He is a board member of Universities UK, of London Higher and of the Higher Education Academy. He is also a member of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the US-UK Fulbright Commission. He is an honorary fellow both of Merton College Oxford and of Trinity College of Music.

Notes to editors

King's College London
King’s is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with 13,800 undergraduate students and some 5,300 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. King’s is in the top group of five universities for research earnings with income from grants and contracts of more than £93 million (2002-2003) and has an annual turnover of £320 million. King’s is a member of the Russell Group, a coalition of the UK’s major research-based universities.




Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3202

Next:
King's student reports on tsunami disaster
King’s consortium wins inaugural EU award
King's historian wins transatlantic book prize
Hope for spinal cord injuries
King’s ranked as world leader in science

Previous:
King’s scoop national science prizes
Internationally renowned immunologist to head medical school
Rare library collection to come to King’s
Adolescent mental health problems on the increase
King’s rises in Sunday Times’ league table


This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
Tel: 020-7848 3202  Fax: 020-7848 3739  Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk