Rector of the University of Glasgow

The position of Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow is elected every three years by the students at the University of Glasgow. Seldom referred to as "Lord Rector", they are more commonly known just as the "Rector". 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. To this day only the four ancient universities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews) elect a Lord Rector, while Dundee elects a similar form of Rector.

The role of the Rector is to work on behalf of the students and raise issues that concern them. The Rector is also entitled to chair the University Court, the governing body of the university. In the past the position was largely seen as honorific, but in recent years, expectations have grown that the Rector play an active role in the university. Indeed, Ross Kemp resigned after the Students' Representative Council voted to request his resignation, such was the extent of student dissatisfaction with his performance.

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. [ [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/towns/townhistory338.html Historical perspective for Glasgow ] ]

It is not always the case though that students vote for a working rector in modern times; anti-apartheid activists Winnie Mandela and Albert Lutuli were elected on the understanding that they would be unable to undertake the position's responsibilities. Previous Rector Mordechai Vanunu was unable to undertake his responsibilities as he was not allowed to leave Israel; that said, many of the students involved in the campaign to elect him called for his release to allow him to undertake activities relating to the role.

Another interesting feature of Vanunu's election is that he was elected in the second scheduled election for Rector in 2004. Original elections were held in February, 2004, but no nominations for the post were forthcoming. The University Senate then set another date for December when he was successfully elected by the students of Glasgow.

List of Rectors

*1690-1691 : David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow, Lord Clerk Register
*1691-1718 : Sir John Maxwell of Nether Park
*1718-1720 : Mungo Graham of Gorthie
*1720-1723 : Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston, the elder, Lord President of the Court of Session
*1723-1725 : James Hamilton of Aikenhead
*1725-1726 : Sir Hugh Montgomerie of Hartfield
*1726-1729 : George Ross, Master of Ross
*1729-1731 : Francis Dunlop of Dunlop
*1731-1733 : John Orr of Barrowfield
*1733-1738 : Colin Campbell of Blythswood
*1738-1740 : George Bogle of Daldowie, one of the Tobacco Lords
*1740-1742 : John Graham of Dugalston
*1742-1743 : John Orr of Barrowfield
*1743-1746 : George Bogle of Daldowie
*1746-1748 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
*1748-1750 : George Bogle of Daldowie
*1750-1753 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
*1753-1755 : William Mure of Caldwell
*1755-1757 : John Boyle, 3rd Earl of Glasgow
*1757-1759 : Patrick Boyle, Lord Shewalton
*1759-1761 : James Milliken of Milliken
*1761-1763 : James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
*1763-1764 : Thomas Miller, 1st Baronet, Lord Justice Clerk, Lord President of the Court of Session
*1764-1767 : William Mure of Caldwell
*1767-1768 : Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk
*1768-1770 : Sir Adam Ferguson of Kilkerran
*1770-1772 : Robert Ord
*1772-1773 : Sir Frederick Campbell, parliamentarian, Lord Clerk Register
*1773-1775 : Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, Ambassador to Russia
*1775-1777 : Sir James William Montgomery, Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
*1777-1779 : Andrew Stewart of Torrance
*1779-1781 : James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale, representative peer
*1781-1783 : Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Lord President of the Court of Session
*1783-1785 : Edmund Burke, philosopher
*1785-1787 : Robert Graham of Gartmore, parliamentarian (former student)
*1787-1789 : Prof. Adam Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy, author of The Wealth of Nations (former student)
*1789-1791 : Walter Campbell of Shawfield
*1791-1793 : Thomas Kennedy of Dunure
*1793-1795 : William Mure of Caldwell
*1795-1797 : William McDowell of Garthland
*1797-1799 : George Oswald of Auchencruive
*1799-1801 : Ilay Campbell, Lord Succoth, 1st Baronet, Lord Justice General
*1801-1803 : William Craig, Lord Craig
*1803-1805 : Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
*1805-1807 : Henry Glassford of Dugalston
*1807-1809 : Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont, Lord Advocate
*1809-1811 : Archibald Campbell of Blythswood
*1811-1813 : Lord Archibald Hamilton, parliamentarian, Governor of Jamaica
*1813-1815 : Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch, politician and soldier
*1815-1817 : David Boyle, Lord Boyle, Lord Justice General
*1817-1819 : George Boyle, 4th Earl of Glasgow
*1819-1820 : Kirkman Finlay, Lord Provost of Glasgow
*1820-1822 : Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, Senator of the College of Justice (former student)
*1822-1824 : Sir James Mackintosh, jurist
*1824-1826 : Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor
*1826-1829 : Thomas Campbell, poet (former student)
*1829-1831 : Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
*1831-1834 : Henry Thomas Cockburn, Senator of the College of Justice
*1834-1836 : Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1836-1838 : Sir Robert Peel Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1838-1840 : Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet, Home Secretary
*1840-1842 : John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane, parliamentarian, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
*1842-1844 : Fox Maule Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie, parliamentarian, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
*1844-1846 : Andrew Rutherford
*1846-1847 : John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1847-1848 : William Mure of Caldwell, classical scholar, parliamentarian
*1848-1850 : Thomas Babington Macaulay, parliamentarian
*1850-1852 : Sir Archibald Alison, institutional legal writer
*1852-1854 : Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
*1854-1856 : George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, parliamentarian
*1856-1859 : Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, writer and politician
*1859-1862 : James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India
*1862-1865 : Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1865-1868 : John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, Lord President of the Court of Session
*1868-1871 : Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1871-1877 : Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1877-1880 : William Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1880-1883 : John Bright, Quaker, activist
*1883-1884 : Henry Fawcett, economist and parliamentarian
*1884-1887 : Prof. Edmund Law Lushington, Professor of Greek
*1887-1890 : Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, Viceroy of India
*1890-1893 : Arthur James Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1893-1896 : Sir John Eldon Gorst, Solicitor-General for England and Wales
*1896-1899 : Joseph Chamberlain, statesman, father of Austen Chamberlain (Rector 1925-1928)
*1899-1902 : Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1902-1905 : George Wyndham, parliamentarian
*1905-1908 : H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1908-1911 : George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India, Foreign Secretary
*1911-1914 : Augustine Birrell, parliamentarian
*1914-1919 : Raymond Poincaré, President and Prime Minister of France
*1919-1922 : Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, (former student)
*1922-1925 : F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, Lord Chancellor
*1925-1928 : Sir Austen Chamberlain, parliamentarian and statesman
*1928-1931 : Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*1931-1934 : Compton Mackenzie, novelist
*1934-1937 : Sir Iain Colquhoun
*1937-1938 : Rev Dick Sheppard, pacifist
*1938-1945 : Sir Archibald Sinclair, leader of the British Liberal Party
*1945-1947 : Sir John Boyd-Orr, physician, nutritionist and Nobel laureate (former student)
*1947-1950 : Walter Elliot, politician (former student)
*1950-1953 : John MacCormick, lawyer and famed nationalist (former student)
*1953-1956 : Tom Honeyman, physician, director of Kelvingrove Art Gallery (former student)
*1956-1959 : Rab Butler
*1959-1962 : Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham
*1962-1965 : Chief Albert Lutuli
*1965-1968 : John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
*1968-1971 : Rev. George MacLeod
*1971-1974 : Jimmy Reid
*1974-1977 : Arthur Montford
*1977-1980 : John L. Bell* (elected while a student at the University)
*1980-1984 : Reginald Bosanquet, TV newsreader
*1984-1987 : Michael Kelly, Lord Provost of Glasgow
*1987-1990 : Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, human rights activist, wife of Nelson Mandela
*1990-1993 : Pat Kane, musician
*1993-1996 : Johnny Ball, TV presenter
*1996-1999 : Richard Wilson, actor
*1999-2000 : Ross Kemp, actor
*2001-2004 : Greg Hemphill, actor, (former student)
*2004-2005 : Position Vacant
*2005-2008 : Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician and whistle-blower
*2008-present : Charles Kennedy

References

ee also

* List of elections for Rector of the University of Glasgow

External links

* [http://www.glasgowstudent.net/system/systempages/file/137/file/rector'sjobd.doc Official source definition of the Rector's position in Word Document form]
* [http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/about/publish/histcon.pdf| Who, where and when: the History and Constitution of the University of Glasgow]
* [http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/officer/?id=6 University of Glasgow Story]