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Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Chris
Gaskell
Appointed as Principal of the (then)
Royal Agricultural College in 2007,
Professor Chris Gaskell made an
immediate impact, having spent many
years in increasingly senior positions
at Liverpool University, including
Dean of the Veterinary Faculty, and
culminating as Pro Vice-Chancellor.
Chris soon created new opportunities for
the institution; one of his first acts at the
RAU was to restructure the farm enterprises
for student teaching and research, including
the mainly arable Coates Farm, and
the purchase from the Oldacre Trust of
Harnhill Manor of which the College had
a company tenancy, a mixed farm which
includes some organic. The RAU now has
a jewel in its crown in the form of the Rural
Innovation Centre, located at Harnhill Manor
Farm, visited shortly after completion in
2013 and commended by the University
President, HRH The Prince of Wales.
Other improvements have been made
in the equine facilities, with the addition
of the outdoor arena at Fossehill
Farm, now an equestrian centre of
excellence. Furthermore, the Principal
instigated and developed the use of
local farms, and also those further
afield, for additional student learning.
One of the major highlights of his tenure
was the achievement of university status
for the institution in 2013, having been
offered the opportunity by the Minister
of State for Universities and Science.
Despite some opposition at the time to the
change of name, Chris drove forward the
decision of Governing Council, and this has
subsequently been deemed to be of great
benefit to students and staff alike, and to
the external perception and international
reach of the RAU. Being a Royal institution,
this change required the submission
to, and permission of, Privy Council.
In 2016, student numbers and the
employability of RAU graduates are at
an all-time high, as is the institution’s
investment in facilities. Chris has worked
with senior staff on the development
of a number of new learning spaces
and halls of residence, all of which
have been built and managed inline
with the University’s commitment to
sustainability. This is an ethos which is
now also embedded throughout the
RAU’s teaching and research activities,
as it seeks to address the global issues of
sustainable agriculture and food security.
As Principal, he significantly raised the
profile of the University as a result of
his involvement in national science and
policy, through his roles with Defra,
the Government’s Food and Research
Partnership, and the Welsh Science
Advisory Council. Chris has also driven
strongly local and regional links, reinforcing
the RAU’s relationships with communities
and businesses, and culminating recently
in the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise
Partnership co-funding the exciting
new Farm491 agritech venture.
In 2015, Governing Council made
the decision to create the position of
Vice-Chancellor and bestow this on
Chris, thereby making him the first
recipient. On his retirement from the
University, Governors have created him
Emeritus Professor, in perpetuity.
Chris’ vision and achievements for the RAU
have been many; a good communicator,
he has steered the institution with great
skill, expertise, and passion. He has
driven changes which have positioned
the RAU as a leader in the sector and
will continue to benefit the University
for many years to come, and for all of
this he has our profound thanks.
Jeremy Lewis
Chair of Governors
Deputy Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Paul Davies
Professor Paul
Davies retires
from the Royal
Agricultural
University in
August; to say
that he will be
missed does
not capture
the half of it.
For 30 years, Paul has committed
himself to the development of the
institution, but most specifically
to the support, development,
and progress of its students.
A graduate in agricultural botany from
the University College of North Wales,
Bangor University – where else but a Welsh
university – Paul came to Cirencester in
1986 via the University of Exeter, University
of East Anglia, and Harper Adams
University. Paul was appointed by Vic
Hughes, the then Principal, as Director of
Studies, Agriculture and has worked with,
and most importantly supported, four
further Principals, in increasingly senior
positions, providing continuity and crucial
institutional memory. He has seen the
institution grow, weather tricky times, gain
degree awarding powers and university
status, build partnerships, and contribute
to the development of agriculture. His
enthusiasm for teaching is as great now
as it was when he first started lecturing,
and his contributions to crop science
have been considerable and sustained,
right from his early postgraduate work
on carrots and their fungal infections.
Among Paul’s many contributions, that
to the standing of the RAU overseas,
merit particular mention. The range of
links and partnerships, projects, and
consultancy programmes that have been
as the result of Paul’s work is legion;
that the RAU punches way above its
weight around the world, from China and
Malaysia to Africa and North America,
owes much to Paul’s international work
and diplomacy. Our friends overseas
will be as sad as us to see him retire.
Many students and alumni, as well as
his colleagues on the staff, will know his
warmth, friendship, and genuine interest
in their progress, as well as his unending
enthusiasm for his subject – or subjects,
as his expertise range so widely. The
University, and many students and staff
over the years, owe Paul, and Janice
who has been a crucial component in the
contribution, a huge debt of gratitude and
we all wish him (and, because it matters
so much to him, the Welsh rugby team)
well in the next phase of his life. And,
again, to say that he, and his energy and
drive, will be missed doesn’t capture
the half of it. Thank you from all of us.
Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Chris Gaskell
NEWS
Simon Pott
Vice President