Newcastle university’s Vice Chancellor will retire next year

Chris Brink will have been a Vice Chancellor for 15 years


Chris Brink, who has been Vice Chancellor at Newcastle University since 2007, is due to retire at the end of 2016.

In an email to all students sent on Wednesday morning he said: “Since I joined the University in 2007 I have been privileged to see it progress.

“We have more students choosing to study at Newcastle University than at any other time in our history and I am delighted that you overwhelmingly value your time with us.”

Professor Chris Brink

Chris Brink, who will be 65 in January, graduated with a degree in Maths and Computer science from Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa.

By 1995 he became Professor and Head of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town.

In 1999 Brink became Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong and Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University in 2002.

The Vice Chancellor, who is thought to be earning over £200,000, was appointed to Newcastle in 2007.

In a statement on the university website Chris Brink said: “We have more students choosing to study at Newcastle than at any other time in our history and our students overwhelmingly value their time here.

“I am immensely grateful to the students, staff and lay members of the University. I am proud to have served and to continue to serve as Vice-Chancellor. This is an outstanding University and its success is down to the efforts of its staff, the calibre of its students and the engagement of our governing body and other lay supporters.

“Our finances are in good shape which means we can, and have been, investing in improving our facilities to benefit both students and staff. We have also fostered a culture that allows us to be ambitious and to pursue new opportunities such as our overseas campuses and our latest venture in London.

“Underpinning all our work at Newcastle has been a philosophy of excellence, but excellence with a purpose, and I am looking forward to seeing this come through in the initiatives we have underway for 2016.”