Moray House School of Education and Sport

Part 10: Rectors, Directors of Studies, Principals and Heads of School from 1835 - present

A chronological list of Moray House's rectors, directors of studies, principals and Heads of School along with the School's name changes.

Faculty of Education / Moray House School of Education / Moray House School of Education and Sport (1998-present)

August 1998: Moray House Institute of Education merged with The University of Edinburgh becoming it's Faculty of Education. In 1998 - still within The University of Edinburgh - the Faculty of Education became Moray House School of Education. Then on 1 August 2019 the School was renamed Moray House School of Education and Sport. An appropriate change as sport has played a key role throughout the history of Moray House*.

Heads of School from 1998 - present:

  • Oct 2022 - present: Prof David Smith - Head of School
  • Oct 2019 - Oct 2022: Richard Andrews - Head of School
  • 2013 - Sept 2019: Rowena Arshad - Head of School
  • 2010 - 2013: Cara Aitchison - Head of School
  • 2009 - 2010: Pat McLaughlin - Head of School
  • 2007 - 2009: Jim O'Brien - Head of School
  • 1998 - 2007: Pamela Munn - Head of School
* In 1987, Moray House merged with Dunfermline College of Physical Education, an institution that was ahead of its time, heralding the importance of gender in sport in that it was the first in Scotland to train women to be physical education teachers. After joining the University of Edinburgh in 1998, Moray House has become home to our Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences (ISPEHS), and the Institute’s academic, professional and technical staff have each carved a place for sport in the history of Moray House into the future.

Moray House College / Moray House Institute of Education (1959-1991)

  • 1991: Linked with Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh; retitled Moray House Institute of Education
  • 1981 - 1998: Gordon Kirk -  Principal
  • 1975 - 1981: Baillie Ruthven - Principal
  • 1966 - 1974: Douglas McIntosh - Principal
  • 1959 - 1966: William B Inglis - Principal
  • 1959: Moray House College of Education formed

Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre (1907-1959)

  • 1951 - 1959: William B Inglis - Director of Studies
  • 1925 - 1951: Godfrey Thomson - Director of Studies at Moray House/Bell Professor of Education at Edinburgh University
  • 1920 - 1925: Alexander Morgan - Director of Studies & Principal
  • 1907 - 1920: Alexander Morgan - Principal
  • 1907 - 1920: John King - Director of Studies
  • 1907: Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre formed; the church training colleges subsumed within this organisation. The new teaching building opened at Moray House in 1913

Church of Scotland (1835-1920)

  • 1903 - 1920: Alexander Morgan - Rector
  • 1886 - 1903: Peter McKinlay - Rector
  • 1879: New building opened in Chambers Street
  • 1854 - 1886: James Currie - Rector
  • 1845 - 1853: George S Davidson - Rector
  • 1845: New buildings opened at Johnston Terrace
  • 1843: The Disruption in the Church of Scotland
  • 1835 - 1840: John Wood - Superintendent
  • 1837 - 1840: The Normal and Sessional School of Edinburgh
  • 1835 - 1837: General Assembly’s Normal Seminary, Edinburgh

Free Church of Scotland (1843-1864)

  • 1864 - 1907: Maurice Paterson - Rector
  • 1855 - 1863: James Sime - Rector
  • 1848: The Normal School moved to Moray House in the Canongate, Edinburgh
  • 1846 - 1855: James Fulton - Rector
  • 1845 - 1846: Thomas Oliphant - Rector
  • 1843 - 1848: After the Disruption the Normal School was located in Whitefield Chapel then in rooms below the Music Room in Rose Street, Edinburgh