Incoming Provost Michael Arthur, who will join UCL in September, has a dis- tinguished academic record. The first ever leader of a Russell Group university to have been educated at a state compre- hensive, Professor Arthur has gained in- ternational recognition for his research into the biology of the liver. He also has a track record of cutting academic jobs and a penchant for the finer things in life.
Professor Arthur joins us from the University of Leeds where he has been Vice Chancellor since 2004. He won the American Liver Foundation Research Prize in 1987 and was the Fulbright Dis- tinguished Scholar from 2003 to 2004. And, like our current Provost, Malcolm Grant, he dabbles in the NHS, being the current Chair of the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services.
A self-confessed Blairite, the new Provost toes a predictable political line on the issue of higher education. While condemning the coalition government’s current approach to higher education as “completely mad”, as leader of the Russell Group from 2009-2012 Professor Ar- thur was a key proponent of raising tui- tion fees. “The lower [earning] quarter of graduates will actually pay less than they do under the current scheme” he told The Leeds Student in 2010.
Despite being vocal about govern- ment cuts to higher education, Professor Arthur attempted to slash his own staff numbers at Leeds by 10 per cent in 2009, subsequently suffering a vote of no-con- fidence and strike action by the Leeds branch of the University and College Union. In 2011, the Leeds Vice Chancel- lor again faced UCU strike action over the closure of the classics department at Leeds. “It’s a department that hasn’t done terribly well in research terms… its fund- ing is not coming together in a way that’s financially and academically stable” he told The Leeds Student.
While steering the Leeds ship through choppy waters and forcing much of his crew to walk the plank, Professor Arthur has still managed to enjoy himself on the University’s account. Figures obtained by The Cheese Grater found that from 2006 to 2012 he charged the University of Leeds close to £70,000 in expenses. On top of this he, like the UCL provost, gets an apartment paid for by his univer- sity. He appears to have a particular affin- ity for high-end hotels, on one occasion charging the university £618 for a one- night stay in the Russell Hotel, London. His hotel bills have cost Leeds on average £7,000 annually since 2006; more than double what the current UCL Provost claimed for his accommodation in the last financial year.
The new Provost has already stated that Malcolm Grant’s tenure will be “a hard act to follow”. Professor Grant’s legacy will certainly be a great burden to bear for Professor Arthur, with the uni- versity currently committed to spending £1.5 billion on the Bloomsbury Mas- terplan and the new Stratford campus. Commenting on the change at the top, Chair of UCL Council Sir Stephen Wall likened Professor Grant’s departure as Provost of UCL to Otto von Bismarck’s resignation as Chancellor of Germany. This is an intriguing comparison to make considering that Bismarck was fol- lowed by a series of ineffectual successors, whose overambitious drives for expan- sion ultimately culminated in the First World War. Michael Arthur will have his work cut out.