University of Cambridge
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/v-c/Vice Chancellor's Office
The Vice-Chancellor's Office supports the Vice-Chancellor (VC) in carrying out statutory and customary duties, and is also responsible for a number of specific areas of activity assigned by tradition or regulation to the VC. The Office is also responsible for the Chancellor's business in Cambridge.
The VC is the principal academic and administrative officer of the University.
In Cambridge, the VC is nominated by the Council (the University's principal executive and policy-making body) and elected by over 3,000 members of the Regent House (the University's governing body and electoral constituency).
The role of VC has evolved throughout the history of the University. Until 1504, the Statutes of the University required the Chancellor to be normally resident in Cambridge, and VCs were appointed to act only in his absence. In 1504, however, the Chancellorship was made a non-residential position, and the election of a new VC became an annual occurrence. From the early 16th century, most elected VCs were already Heads of Colleges within the University, and from 1587 to 1992 all were.
The standard term of office for the VC has varied significantly over time: the original year long term was extended first in the middle of the 19th century to two years, and again in 1992 to up to seven years.
Staff
 Professor Alison Richard, Vice ChancellorBorn in Kent, England, Professor Richard gained her undergraduate degree in anthropology at Cambridge, as a student at Newnham College, and her doctorate in primate biology from London University. She moved to Yale University in 1972 and became Professor of Anthropology in 1986. She chaired the Department of Anthropology at Yale from 1986 until 1990. Between 1991 and 1994, she served as Director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, where she oversaw one of the most important university natural history collections in the USA and played a leading role in initiating the museum\'s $20 million capital fundraising campaign. Professor Richard is widely known for her research into the evolution of complex social systems among primates. This work has taken her to Central America, northern Pakistan and in particular Madagascar, where she has maintained a field research project for the past 15 years. Professor Richard has been a leader of numerous professional organisations and scientific advisory councils. Since 1995, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund, the largest privately supported international conservation organisation in the world. She also serves as a Director of the Liz Claiborne/Art Ortenberg Foundation, dedicated to the survival of wildlife and wildlands, and to the vitality of the human communities with which they are inextricably linked. From April 1994 until December 2002, she served as Provost of Yale University. As Provost she co-ordinated the educational policies and academic plans of all sectors of the institution, including Yale College, the Graduate School, the 10 professional schools, the University collections, and the various centres for research and scholarship. Professor Richard also held the principal responsibility for developing Yale\'s operating and capital budgets, and long-range financial plans. |
Contact details
Trinity Lane,
Cambridge CB2 1TN
Tel: +44 (0)1223 332290
Fax: +44 (0)1223 339669
