News / Education
Nobel Prize winner to be new uni chancellor
Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse, a former president of the Royal Society and director of the Francis Crick Institute, has been announced as the next chancellor of the University of Bristol, a mostly ceremonial position most famously held by Winston Churchill.
A leading geneticist and cell biologist, Sir Paul’s contributions to science were recognised with a knighthood in 1999 and he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology of Medicine in 2001 for discovering the molecules which regulate the cell cycle.
University vice-chancellor Professor Hugh Brady said: “To have Sir Paul as our next chancellor is a huge honour. He has an unrivalled standing in the scientific community, in this country and across the world. He will be a great inspiration for our staff and students.
“His appointment could not have come at a more opportune time, as we look forward to the next step in our university’s development and steer our path through the aftermath of the recent UK referendum. I very much look forward to working with him over the coming years.”
As chancellor from 2017, Sir Paul will be the ceremonial head of the institution and play an important ambassadorial role, nationally and internationally.
The existing chancellor, Lady Hale, the first women Law Lord and the UK’s most senior judge, will retire from the role at the end of this year, having held the post since 2004.
Read more: ‘The Churchill connection’
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