Dear colleagues,
I am writing to let you know that I will be retiring in December 2025 when I will be five months beyond the seven year term of office as Principal that I accepted in 2018, and two months beyond my seventieth birthday. The sevens in my professional and personal life are in close alignment.
As is customary when Principals retire, I am offering advance notice so that the University has sufficient time to handle the recruitment process and allow for the notice period that the new Principal will be required to give.
It has been a huge privilege to be the internal advocate and external ambassador for the extraordinary range of your very high quality work in Schools and Professional Services. It has also been an honour to lead the development of our academic and financial strategies.
The University is in a very strong position to attract outstanding candidates to be our next Principal: our financial position has been stabilised, our research awards grew by 30% last year, student satisfaction is consistently amongst the best in the UK, and we have achieved our highest ever UK rankings. We are now 15th in the Times/Sunday Times, 12th in the Guardian, and 2nd in Scotland in both league tables.
We have also made very strong progress on a wide range of activities including student recruitment, student employability, research funding, research impact, and regional and global partnerships; and, most fundamentally the creation of new knowledge and scientific discoveries.
I will have more to say at the end of the year about our many successes since 2018. I am very much looking forward to working with you over the next ten months, and then to a life beyond work after that.
Message from the Senior Governor
As George shares news of his plan to retire, I wish to extend my deepest thanks to him for outstanding service. He has achieved an enormous amount in seven years.
Since assuming the role of Principal and Vice-Chancellor in August 2018, Professor Boyne has been instrumental in steering the University of Aberdeen through a period of significant transformation.
In 2020, under his stewardship, the University launched the award winning ‘Aberdeen 2040’ strategy, a forward-thinking collaborative plan which outlined a comprehensive vision for the University focusing on enhancing research, fostering an inclusive learning environment, and strengthening our community engagement.
During his tenure Professor Boyne has faced significant financial challenges, including the impacts of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the recent slump in revenue for UK universities. He has worked tirelessly alongside and with the support of colleagues to implement strategic measures to stabilise the University’s finances.
It has always been clear to me that he always wants the best for the University and has a deep passion for all things Aberdeen. The warmth and accessibility evident within the University has also enhanced relations with the regional community, with businesses and on an international level. He consistently drove our organisation to look outwards.
He also enabled proactive work on gender-based violence and engagement with the Emily Foundation, equalisation of terms and conditions for all staff, as well as assisting with better recognition for JJR MacLeod, the Aberdeen graduate who went on to be joint recipient of the Nobel prize for discovery of insulin, a discovery which means so much to Professor Boyne personally.
Much preparation has been undertaken to enable us to commence the search for our new Principal and I will keep you updated of the progress we make and the opportunities that we are creating to enable you to become involved in the recruitment process.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish George the long and happy retirement he so very much deserves, and I hope you will join with me to thank him for his service and all that he has achieved.