Rick Trainor

Sir Rick Trainor, who will step down as principal and president of King¡¯s in September 2014, will become rector of Exeter College, Oxford the following month.

He will replace the current rector Frances Cairncross, a former editor of The Economist.

Sir Rick, a former Rhodes scholar at Oxford who later lectured at Balliol College on Victorian social history, said he was looking forward to taking over at Exeter as it celebrates its 700^th anniversary.

¡°I am thrilled and honoured to join Exeter¡¯s students and fellows at such a pivotal point in the college¡¯s history,¡± he said.

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¡°As Exeter enters its eighth century, it has never been stronger, and I look forward to working with fellows and students alike to build on the college¡¯s major advances of the last decade and accelerate academic excellence.¡±

Sir Rick, a past president of Universities UK, led the University of Greenwich from 2000 to 2004 before taking charge at King¡¯s.

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A dual citizen of the US and the UK, he was knighted in 2010 for services to higher education.

¡°Throughout his career as a vice-chancellor, scholar, and student Professor Trainor has championed the importance of academic excellence in a community of multi-disciplinary scholarship,¡± said Ms Cairncross.

¡°His commitment to excellence in teaching and research, and a passion for student support and welfare will provide the college with strong leadership in a changing and competitive field of international education and scholarship.¡±?

jack.grove@tsleducation.com