Cambridge University’s new Vice-Chancellor takes office

Professor Stephen Toope has succeeded Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz to become the 346th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was formally admitted in a ceremony held in Senate House this morning.

Born in Montreal, Toope studied History and Literature at Harvard University, before completing degrees in common law and civil law from McGill University and gaining a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1987.

Professor Stephen Toope recieved a Ph.D. from Trinity College in 1987

Specialising in human rights, international dispute resolution and international environmental law, he has worked as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Colombia, Chair of the Board of Universities of Canada and the Director of the Royal Conservatory of Music. He joins the university from the position of Director of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.

In 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 2015 was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada – the country’s highest honour.

He is also Canadian

In his address to the Congregation at Senate House this morning, Toope stated: "My student days at Cambridge provided me the space and time to broaden my intellectual horizons, allowing me to read voraciously and widely, and to interact with one of the most stimulating and diverse groups of people I’ve ever met. What I learned then has served me well ever since, so I am thrilled in turn to serve an institution from which I have gained so much.

"With its breath and depth of expertise, with its history of truly disruptive discovery, Cambridge must take a global lead as the place where barriers between areas of knowledge are broken down, the place where global collaborations are seeded and nurtured."