A former adviser to the World Health Organisation, Don Nutbeam, has been appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton. Currently academic provost at the University of Sydney, he will take up his new position when Bill Wakeham retires in September next year. Professor Nutbeam has held a variety of senior positions in universities, government, health services and in an independent research institute. His research career, which spans 30 years, has included the examination of public-health intervention in schools and communities, as well as studies of health literacy and adolescent health behaviour. Dame Valerie Strachan, chair of Southampton's council, said: "Don has an outstanding background in both health and education and an impressive track record in leadership and management."

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama has appointed Katharine Lewis its head of registry and quality assurance and enhancement. Ms Lewis has been on secondment to Guildhall from King's College London for the past nine months, co-ordinating programme validation. She will now be in charge of the school's registry team. She transfers to Guildhall after 12 years at King's, where she was most recently senior assistant college secretary and head of corporate services.

Philip Torr has been honoured with the Royal Society's Wolfson Research Merit Award for his achievements in developing computer vision. Professor Torr, of Oxford Brookes University, was recognised for work that has advanced the computer's ability not only to "see" but also to "understand". His research has the potential to be used as a search and index tool for the ocean of images and videos online. Professor Torr was a member of the team that helped develop the algorithm design for Boujou, the camera and object-tracking software that is now essential to the work of film production houses in London and Hollywood, and which has been used in films such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Professor Torr is also well known for his work on a computerised tool to aid surgeons and physiotherapists in their work rehabilitating patients with limb injuries.

John McCann has been confirmed as the acting chief executive for the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU), taking over from Brian Lister. Mr McCann's previous roles include that of senior manager at Glenrothes College, and until recently, he was deputy chief executive at the SFEU. Christina Potter, chair of the SFEU, said: "John takes over a key role at an important time. The SFEU along with the Association of Scotland's Colleges, the Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group and Scotland's Colleges International are coming together to form a new single support agency for the college sector."

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The SouthWest London Academic Network (Swan) - a research and teaching alliance between Kingston University, Royal Holloway, University of London and St George's, University of London - has announced three senior appointments. Jan Fook, the former head of the division of social work studies at the University of Southampton, has become director of the Interprofessional Institute (health and social care). Christine Edwards, former head of the School of Human Resource Management at Kingston University's Business School, has been named director of the Institute of Leadership and Management in Health. Celia Cornwell is to become the new strategic partnership programme manager for Swan. She has transferred from her position as director of international strategy and development at Curtin University of Technology, Australia.

Peter Buckley has become the first professor working in a UK university to be awarded the Booz Allen Hamilton Eminent Scholar Award for strategy and business. Professor Buckley, who received the award for outstanding research in international management, is head of the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds. He received the award at the Academy of Management's annual meeting in Anaheim, California.

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Graham Welch, professor of music education at the Institute of Education, has been elected president of the International Society for Music Education. The ISME was formed at a conference convened by Unesco in 1953 "to stimulate music education as an integral part of general education". Professor Welch has published more than 200 books and articles on music education, holds several international visiting professorships, and is on the editorial boards of world-leading journals of music education. He is the second English person to hold the office and was elected at the general assembly of the ISME world conference.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council has appointed five new members to its governing body. They are: Roger Kain, deputy vice-chancellor for research at the University of Exeter; Ellen Douglas-Cowie, dean of arts, humanities and social science at Queen's University Belfast; Dame Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library; Richard Halkett, executive director of policy and research at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; and John Howkins, visiting professor at Lincoln University and vice-dean and visiting professor at the Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theatre Academy, China. Council members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Universities, Innovation and Skills. They are responsible for the overall strategic direction of the AHRC - including its key objectives and targets and decisions about the council's research direction.

City University London has appointed Christina Slade the dean of both the School of Social Sciences and the School of the Arts. Professor Slade, who has studied and taught in a variety of universities across the globe, was most recently dean of humanities at Macquarie University in Australia. She has published in fields spanning philosophy, politics and communication and is currently leading a project that focuses on how Arabic-language content broadcast on satellite television is affecting European Union citizenship.

Hilary Lappin-Scott has been appointed the new pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise at Bangor University. Currently dean of the faculty of postgraduate studies at the University of Exeter, Professor Lappin-Scott is also a fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology and president of the International Society for Microbial Ecology. Merfyn Jones, the vice-chancellor, said: "Research is central to Bangor University's mission, and this appointment will strengthen and take to the next level our capability and performance in research and enterprise activity."

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