Michael Arthur (academic)

Michael James Arthur (born 3 August 1954) has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds since 1 September 2004.

Early life

Arthur was born in Purley, Surrey, England and attended Burnt Mill School in Harlow, Essex at a similar time as Bill Rammell. His father was a cabinet maker and his mother was a student liaison officer at an agricultural college.^[1] He went to the University of Southampton where he graduated as a Bachelor of Medicine in 1977 and became a Doctor of Medicine in 1986. From 1987-9 he studied at the University of California, San Francisco.^[2]

Career

Arthur's academic career began at Southampton, where he was appointed research fellow and lecturer in medicine in 1982, senior lecturer in 1989 and, at the age of 37, to a Chair of Medicine in 1992. He became Director of Research at Southampton in 1995, Head of the School of Medicine in 1998 and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences in 2003.^[2] From 1 September 2004 he has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.^[3] At the time of his appointment, he was the first Vice-Chacellor of a Russell Group university to have attended a comprehensive school.^[2] According to the Yorkshire Post, his salary is £253,000.^[4]

Research

He first developed interests in the cell and molecular pathogenesis of liver fibrosis on a two-year Fogarty International Travelling Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (1988–1990). In 2002, he took up a Fulbright distinguished scholar award to conduct cell biology research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

His contribution to research has been acknowledged with the award of the American Liver Foundation Research Prize (1987) and the Linacre Medal of the Royal College of Physicians, London (1994), a year after becoming a Fellow. He became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in 2006.

Arthur has been on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including Journal of Hepatology, Comparative Hepatology, Gut and Clinics in Gastroenterology.

Other roles

He has chaired the cell and molecular panel at the Wellcome Trust (2003–2004). He was a member of HEFCE’s Research Assessment Exercise panel for 2001 for hospital-based medicine and HEFCE’s strategic research committee (2003–2005). Other roles have included membership of the Department of Health’s advisory group on hepatitis (1998–2004) and President of the British Association for the Study of the Liver (2001–2003). He was chair of the board of trustees of the British Liver Trust (2003–2006) and now Vice President (2007-) Arthur has also chaired the national steering group for the National Student Survey (2005–2008).

Current roles and public appointments include membership of the board of Yorkshire Forward (2006-), the Board of the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency (2007-), Commissioner for the US/UK Fulbright Commission (2008-), Membership of the Council of the Medical Research Council (UK) (2008-) and from September 2009, Chair of the Russell Group of universities.

Personal life

He is married to consultant paediatrician, Elizabeth S. McCaughey (married 1979), and they have two daughters (born 1983 and 1985) and one son (born 1987).^[3][5] He enjoys sailing.^[2]

References

1. ^ The Guardian 21 February 2009 Polly Curtis: There may be trouble ahead
2. ^ ^{a b c d} The Reporter (University of Leeds newsletter) no 495, 26 January 2004 Leeds welcomes new Vice Chancellor
3. ^ ^{a b} "Professor Michael Arthur curriculum vitae". Archived from the original on 2006-01-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20060116133537/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/about/senior_officers/arthur_cv.htm. Retrieved 2006-03-13. 
4. ^ www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 13 January 2011 "Power and Pay: The region's movers and shakers".
5. ^ Fulbright Alumni news Number 40 Summer 2008

External links

• Guardian interview February 2009
• Becoming the Vice-Chancellor in January 2004

Academic offices
Preceded by Alan Wilson	Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds 2004–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Arthur, Michael
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Date of birth	3 August 1954
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