New Heads of College appointed

Reading time: 2 minutes
As part of wider changes to the senior leadership team, the University has appointed two new Heads of College.

For the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Sarah Prescott has been appointed as Vice-Principal and Head of College.

For the College of Science and Engineering, Professor Iain Gordon has been appointed as Vice-Principal and Head of College.

Both professors will be members of the senior leadership team and will take up their positions on 1 August 2022.

Professor Sarah Prescott

Professor Prescott is currently Principal of the College of Arts and Humanities and Professor of English Literature at University College Dublin (UCD).

During her tenure, Professor Prescott has overseen major transformation of the undergraduate curriculum.

She has worked extensively with external partners and alumni to enhance the student experience and the employability of UCD graduates.

Professor Prescott succeeds Professor Dorothy Miell who will be retiring from the University.

I am very much looking forward to leading the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and to joining the senior leadership team at the University of Edinburgh.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be coming to the University and I welcome the opportunity to promote and support the College and its academic disciplines and to develop the success of Strategy 2030.

I am particularly excited to meet new colleagues and to engage with the student body at Edinburgh not only within the College but across the University.

Professor Sarah Prescott

Professor Iain Gordon

Professor Iain Gordon has been the Professor of Mathematics since 2006, and has been Head of the School of Mathematics since 2014.

Professor Gordon is well-known for his foundational research in algebra, his accolades for teaching at the University, and for the many initiatives that he has fostered in innovative education.

Professor Gordon will take over from Dave Robertson as Head of College when his five-year term ends this summer.

I’m honoured and thrilled to be appointed as the next Head of the College. There is superb teaching bringing together brilliant, committed staff and students and there is fascinating research all across the College, ranging from the fundamental ways we understand the world and universe through to the most exciting technologies and their applications.

I’m looking forward to trying to support everyone to realise their ambitions, and I am from here and love the city, so I want the College and the University to have an important and meaningful role in Edinburgh, as well as nationally and internationally.

Professor Iain Gordon