Rick Trainor
| Sir Rick Trainor KBE | |
|---|---|
| Principal of King's College London | |
| Term | 2004 – present |
| Predecessor | Arthur Lucas |
| Born | 1948 United States of America |
| Alma mater | Brown University Princeton University Merton College, Oxford Nuffield College, Oxford |
| Spouse | Dr Marguerite Dupree |
| Children | Richard and Meg Trainor |
| Website | www.kcl.ac.uk |
Professor Sir Richard Hughes "Rick" Trainor KBE FRHS FKC (born 31 December 1948) is the current Principal of King's College London.
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[edit] Biography
Trainor was educated at Calvert Hall College High School, and graduated from Brown University with a BA summa cum laude in American Civilization, and subsequently earned MAs from Princeton University and from Merton College, Oxford, before completing his D.Phil. in 1981 at Nuffield College, Oxford entitled "Authority and social structure in an industrialized area: a study of three Black Country towns, 1840-1890". He is a former Rhodes Scholar.
He is a member of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Athenaeum Club. He is also an Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and Trinity College of Music, and a member of the Anglo-American Fulbright Commission.
Trainor was awarded an honorary knighthood (KBE) in June 2010, for services to higher education. The award was honorary due to his American nationality, however on 31 December 2010 the knighthood was made substantive by Queen Elizabeth II following his assumption of the British nationality.[1]
He is married to Dr Marguerite Dupree, an academic historian of medicine currently at Glasgow University, with two children.
[edit] Career
Trainor was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich (2000–2004) and, before that, Senior Vice-Principal of the University of Glasgow. He became Principal of King's College London in 2004, where he is also Professor of Social History.
He is a former President of Universities UK, serving between 2007 and 2009.
Since becoming Principal of King’s in 2004, Trainor has overseen a rise in the College’s Times Higher-QS World University Rankings from 96 to 23rd in the world; in 2010 the College was named Sunday Times University of the Year. Other achievements include the acquisition of the east Wing of Somerset House, that the College had discussed for 180 years, and the formation of King’s Health Partners, a collaboration between the College and the hospitals of Guy’s, St.Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and the Maudsley.
[edit] Restructuring at King's College
In response to actual and further anticipated cuts in public sector funding in 2009/2010, Trainor introduced plans for 'financial and academic sustainability' and 'strategic disinvestment' at King's College London that have provoked letters of protest by prominent scholars both in the UK and abroad.[2][3][4][5]
The University and College Union (UCU) and the British Medical Association (BMA) have also voiced their concerns about the restructuring at King’s College London.[6] The situation at King's has attracted national press coverage.[7][8][9][10][11]
Trainor has responded by highlighting the pressures facing UK Universities and his belief that further higher education funding cuts would risk serious damage to the sector.[12][13] The King's College London UCU executive committee have commented on Trainor's responses [14]
Further, his decision to close the Division of Engineering which has the honour of being one of the oldest departments in the world risks charges of reckless academic vandalism.[15]
His cuts were the subject of House of Commons Early Day Motion 1179 in the 2009-2010 Session. 'That this House notes the proposal by the Executive of Kings College London as part of its budget review process to abolish the Chair of Palaeography, the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom; further notes the fundamental importance of palaeography to a broad and interdisciplinary scholarly community; considers that without the development of palaeographic skills, millions of documents would be rendered inaccessible, thus depriving the nation of its full historical legacy; and therefore urges Kings College London to consider very carefully any proposals in respect to this prestigious and important Chair.' This had no effect on King's College policy.
[edit] Published works
- Black Country élites: the exercise of authority in an industrialized area, 1830-1900. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
- Urban governance: Britain and beyond since 1750, edited by Robert J. Morris and Richard H. Trainor. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.
- University, city and state: the University of Glasgow since 1870, by Michael Moss, J. Forbes Munro and Richard H. Trainor. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press for the University of Glasgow, 2000.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ 2011 New Year Honours: Overseas List
- ^ The New York Review of Books 9 March 2010
- ^ KCL 'Divestment in the Humanities'
- ^ The Harvard Crimson 4 February 2010
- ^ Philosophy Online in China 8 February 2010
- ^ University and College Union press release 26 February 2010
- ^ The Guardian 9 February 2010
- ^ Times Higher Education 4 February 2010
- ^ Times Online 28 January 2010
- ^ London Student 15 February 2010
- ^ London Evening Standard 4 February 2010
- ^ Times Higher Education 25 February 2010
- ^ The Observer 28 February 2010
- ^ UCU response
- ^ UCU resposne
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Arthur Lucas |
Principal of King's College London 2004–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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- 1948 births
- Living people
- Principals of King's College London
- Academics of King's College London
- Fellows of King's College London
- King's College London
- Brown University alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
- Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford
- Honorary Fellows of Merton College, Oxford
- Academics of the University of Oxford
- Academics of the University of Glasgow
- People associated with the University of Greenwich
- Academics of the University of Greenwich
- American Rhodes scholars
- Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
- Academicians of the Social Sciences
- British academics
- British historians
