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Director-General of CBI installed as new Chancellor

Jim Rushton, Richard Lambert and Juliet AmeryRichard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI has been formally installed as Chancellor of the University of Warwick. The ceremony took place on Wednesday 10th December at Warwick Arts Centre. Richard Lambert is the University of Warwick's fifth chancellor, following the previous chancellor, Sir Nicholas Scheele.

Richard Lambert is Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry – the CBI. He was educated at Fettes College and read modern history at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1966, he joined the Financial Times, where he edited the Lex column in the 1970s, becoming Financial Editor in 1979. After a spell in the USA, he returned to the UK in 1983 to become Deputy Editor and in 1991, Editor of the FT. During his ten years as Editor, the FT’s circulation almost doubled, and Richard launched the US version of the paper. Subsequently, he became a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, a position which he held from 2003 to 2006.

December 2003 saw the publication of the Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration. This review, undertaken at the request of the government, argued that increased collaboration between business and university research departments would bring significant economic benefits to the UK. Richard Lambert proposed concerted action by business, universities and government and recommended a greater role for Regional Development Agencies in facilitating knowledge transfer. 

In 2006, Richard Lambert succeeded Sir Digby Jones as Chairman of the CBI. He has brought to this position a focus on climate change, financial services, education and skills, and science and technology. 

Included in the ceremony was the presentation of Chancellor's Medals. Former Coventry teacher, Juliet Amery, and the University's former Deputy Registrar, Jim Rushton both received medals.

Juliet Amery was a student at Coventry College of Education from 1955-57, has never lost touch with 'Westwood', becoming integrally involved with Warwick Graduates' Association. She is a benefactor to its Annual Fund, and in 2000 created the Florence Silver Scholarship; an award which provides funds for a choral scholar here at Warwick. For full information, see the press release.

Jim Rushton joined the university in 1969, and was appointed Deputy Registrar in 1983. Jim initiated, led and supported some of the University’s most successful non-academic, income generating activities. These included the establishment of Warwick’s Hospitality Services and its three thriving conference centres (Arden House, Radcliffe House and Scarman House). He also founded Warwick’s International Office, negotiating numerous agreements with overseas governments to fund scholarship programmes for students studying at Warwick. He was also the lead developer of the Higher Education Management Programme, run jointly by Warwick and Oxford, which was attended by university administrators from across the Commonwealth. For full information, see the press release.