Warwick names Croft as vice-chancellor

The University of Warwick has named its next vice-chancellor as Stuart Croft, currently provost at the institution.

Professor Croft, formerly a professor in international security and international relations, will replace Sir Nigel Thrift, who steps down in February 2016.

Sir George Cox, pro-chancellor and chair of council and chair of the joint selection committee, said there had been “an outstanding shortlist from which Professor Croft was chosen as the best equipped to build on what Warwick has achieved so far. I am confident he will implement and extend a strategy which will further strengthen Warwick’s position amongst the world’s leading universities.”

Professor Croft will be Warwick’s sixth vice-chancellor. He joined Warwick in January 2007 as professor of international security in the Department of Politics and International Studies and was appointed Warwick’s pro vice-chancellor for research (arts and social sciences) in 2011. Prior to that he was professor of international relations and head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

Professor Croft said: “What is strongest about Warwick is our community – our ability to pull together but also to challenge ourselves, to always be looking for the next development. Warwick’s community – our staff and students, but also alumni and friends in Coventry, Warwickshire, the Midlands and beyond – is the heart of what has made Warwick so strong, and is what makes the prospect of being vice-chancellor here so exciting.”

In 2014, Times Higher Education reported that Professor Croft had been “leading the investigation” into Warwick English professor Thomas Docherty and would “also have the ultimate decision on his guilt or innocence”.

Professor Docherty was suspended for eight months after being charged by Warwick with undermining the authority of Catherine Bates, the former head of the English department.

The case against him cited three incidents in which he was alleged to have undermined Professor Bates, including sighing, projecting negative body language and making “ironic” comments when interviewing candidates for a job at Warwick.

He was eventually cleared of all charges.

john.morgan@tesglobal.com