Letter to all staff from the Principal
10 Dec 2002, PR 56/02 To all staff,I write to inform you that the Council of the College has now begun the process of appointing my successor to take over as Principal when my contract ends next year. Over Christmas last year my family and I decided that it would be best to cease my responsibility for the College at the end of my current term. I indicated this decision informally to the Chairman of Council soon after I returned from my Christmas leave. It was not an easy decision to make, for I have been associated with the College, including my period at Chelsea, for the majority of my working life. Conscious that I am slowing down physically, I concluded that it was in the best interests of my family and myself and of the College that I not continue beyond the end of my current contract. By September 2003, I will have served in this role for over 11 years, a substantially longer period than any of my predecessors in office since Sir Peter Noble's tenure from 1952 to 1968. I am also one of the longest serving current Vice Chancellors or Principals of the pre-92 Universities. I know that I can rely on you, the staff of the College, to continue to assist in achieving our goals as you have done for the past ten and a half years. Together we have achieved much in the period of my Principalship. We have taken difficult decisions, and have seen the beginning of the benefits. We have together built a strong platform for the College's future. Much remains to be done and the new political climate needs someone who can provide more continuity than I could possibly provide in a short extension of office. Arthur Lucas
Notes to editors King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.
King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.
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