Graeme Davies, former chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is a tornado in his new job as principal of Glasgow University, not least because of his speedy dispatch of business. Robert Carroll, reporting the latest senate meeting in the university newsletter, relates with awe that Professor Davies said all he had to say in six minutes and then sat down. "The principal's speech was so brief, none of the regius professors had a chance of making their usual contribution to senate - that of falling asleep."