The Rector
The primary role of the Rector is to chair the University Court.
The Rector also chairs meetings of the General Council in absence of the Chancellor.
More recently, Rectors occupy a position similar to an ombudsperson. They work closely with students and the Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
Iain Macwhirter
Iain Macwhirter was officially installed as Rector of the University in March 2009.
He studied politics at the University as a postgraduate student in the 1970s.
During his PhD he began working for the BBC as a political researcher.
In 1987 he became the BBC’s Scottish Political Correspondent. In 1989 he moved to London to present BBC network political programmes such as Westminster Live.
He also began writing political commentaries for Scotland on Sunday and later became a columnist for the Scotsman and the Observer.
In 1999 Mr Macwhirter returned to Scotland to help set up the Sunday Herald and to present the BBC’s Holyrood Live, which he fronted for seven years.
Mr Macwhirter has been a regular political commentator for the Herald and Sunday Herald and regular writer for the New Statesman and the Guardian.
Interview
Watch an interview with Iain Macwhirter about the role of Rector.
Previous Rectors of the University
- 2006 Mark Ballard
- 2003 Tam Dalyell MP
- 2000 Robin Harper MSP
- 1997 John Colquhoun
- 1994 Dr Malcolm Macleod
- 1991 Donnie Munro
- 1988 Muriel Gray
- 1985 Archie MacPherson
- 1982 David Steel (now Sir David Steel)
- 1979 Dr Anthony Ross
- 1975 Magnus Magnusson
- 1972 Dr Gordon Brown
- 1971 Jonathan Wills
- 1968 Kenneth Allsop
- 1966 Malcolm Muggeridge
- 1963 James Robertson Justice
- 1960 Joseph Grimond
- 1957 James Robertson Justice
- 1954 Sir Sydney A Smith
- 1951 Sir Alexander Fleming
- 1948 Alastair Sim
- 1945 Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
- 1939 Sir J Donald Pollock, Bt.
- 1936 Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson
- 1935 Viscount Allenby
- 1932 General Sir Ian Hamilton
- 1929 The Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill
- 1926 The Rt Hon Sir John Gilmour
- 1923 The Rt Hon Stanley Baldwin
- 1920 The Rt Hon David Lloyd George
- 1917 Earl Beatty
- 1914 Earl Kitchener of Khartoum
- 1911 The Earl of Minto
- 1908 The Rt Hon Geo. Wyndham
- 1905 The Rt Hon Richard Burdon Haldane
- 1902 Sir Robert Bannatyne Finlay
- 1899 The Marquess of Dufferin & Ava
- 1896 Lord Balfour of Burleigh
- 1893 The Rt Hon J P B Robertson
- 1890 The Rt Hon G J Goschen
- 1887 The Marquess of Lothian
- 1883 Earl of Iddlesleigh
- 1880 Earl of Rosebery
- 1877 The Marquess of Hartington
- 1874 Earl of Derby
- 1871 Sir W Stirling Maxwell
- 1868 Lord Moncrieff
- 1865 Thomas Carlyle
- 1859 The Rt Hon W E Gladstone
This article was published on Oct 24, 2011