Hefce names new chief executive

The new chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England has been named.

Sir Alan Langlands, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, will succeed David Eastwood in the post on 1 April next year.

Professor Eastwood is leaving to become vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham less than three years into his six-year contract with Hefce.

Sir Alan was previously chief executive of the National Health Service in England, a post he held from 1994 to 2000.

He said: “The funding council’s aims of enhancing excellence in education and research while widening participation and knowledge transfer have never been more important, and I look forward to building on Hefce’s many successes.”