Provost of Yale nominated as next Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford

Professor Hamilton was selected unanimously by a Nominating Committee chaired by the Chancellor, Lord Patten of Barnes, following adverts in the press plus a worldwide search by headhunters, and a detailed short-listing and interview process. The Nominating Committee then made a recommendation to Council (the University’s principal policy-making body) that Professor Hamilton should be appointed as the next Vice-Chancellor. Following Council’s endorsement, the name is put before Congregation for approval. Subject to this approval, Professor Hamilton’s appointment as Vice-Chancellor will be formally confirmed, and he will take up the post on 1 October 2009.

*The Nominating Committee is chaired by the Chancellor, Lord Patten, and has thirteen other members: four elected by Congregation, three appointed by Council, four by the Boards of Oxford’s academic Divisions, and two College representatives.

Dr John Hood, who was the first Vice-Chancellor to be appointed from outside the University in Oxford’s 900-year history, continues as Vice-Chancellor for a further 16 months, until the end of September 2009. He is leading the University into its biggest ever fundraising campaign and an extremely ambitious building project, securing Oxford’s vision for the future. In his time as VC so far, he has overseen significant improvements in the global reputation, academic standing, and financial strength of the University. For more information, contact the Press Office.

Professor Hamilton was born in Guildford, Surrey, and read chemistry at the University of Exeter. After studying for a master's degree at the University of British Columbia, he received his PhD from Cambridge University in 1980.

In 1981 Professor Hamilton was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at Princeton University. He moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 1988, where he became Professor of Chemistry and served as department chair. He joined Yale in 1997 and was chair of the chemistry department from 1999 until 2003, when he became Deputy Provost for Science and Technology. Professor Hamilton has been Provost of Yale since 2004 and combines his wide-ranging administrative duties with a distinguished teaching and research career. In addition to serving as Provost, he is Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. His research interests lie at the interface of organic and biological chemistry, with particular focus on the use of synthetic design for the understanding, mimicry, and potential disruption of biological processes.

Professor Hamilton’s academic achievements have been widely recognised internationally. In 1999 he received the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, and in 2004 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Royal Society.

Professor Hamilton's achievements during his time as Provost of Yale include:

* the acquisition of the new West Campus, a 136 acre research campus which will be home to new scientific initiatives and a new Collections Campus, dedicated to the accessible storage and preservation of Yale's arts, library and natural history collections
* the re-establishment of the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science after a forty-year hiatus
* a comprehensive change in Yale's tenure and appointments process
* the development of a new interdisciplinary programme of teaching and research in the humanities
* new interdisciplinary science and engineering initiatives focusing on nanoscience and quantum engineering, stem cell research and genomics and proteomics
* a significant enhancement of the Yale undergraduate curriculum, including the strengthening of science, quantitative reasoning, humanities and arts requirements

Professor Hamilton’s research profile: www.chem.yale.edu/faculty/hamilton.html

Information on the role of Provost at Yale: see www.yale.edu/provost/html/office.html