Malcolm Press, pro vice-chancellor for research and knowledge transfer at the University of Birmingham, will take up the top post at MMU on 1 June.

He said the university was well placed to take advantage of new opportunities for Manchester offered by greater devolution.

John Brooks, MMU¡¯s existing vice-chancellor, is retiring after 10 years in the job.

MMU had originally announced that Professor Brooks would retire this month. However, the first recruitment process to find a successor had to be aborted after the university¡¯s governors rejected the selected candidate in the summer ¨C with the chair of governors then resigning.

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Malcolm Edge, who was appointed Manchester Met¡¯s chair of governors in June 2013, is thought to have been part of an appointment committee that selected a candidate to be vice-chancellor.

When that choice was rejected by the university¡¯s board of governors, Mr Edge is understood to have felt that he could no longer count on the confidence of the board and left, having been in the post about a year.

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Vanda Murray, former deputy chair of governors, stepped up to become chair.

Professor Press, an ecologist, studied for his PhD and worked as a lecturer at the University of Manchester.

He said: ¡°The university is superbly equipped to take full advantage of the new opportunities that Manchester will gain from greater regional devolution and investment in the North.¡±

He added: ¡°I am looking forward to returning to a great city where I¡¯ve both studied and worked, to lead an institution that deserves to be the UK¡¯s best modern university.¡±

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Ms Murray said: ¡°MMU has become the UK¡¯s most popular undergraduate university with major investments in all aspects of university life, including its infrastructure and facilities, under the leadership of our vice-chancellor Professor John Brooks.

¡°The platform is now set for us to take MMU to the next stage of its growth and development on a regional, national and world stage. As the unanimous choice of the board of governors, we are confident that Professor Malcolm Press is the ideal person to lead us forward.¡±

Professor Brooks said the appointment was ¡°an excellent decision¡± by the board. ¡°Professor Press has an outstanding academic track record and broad experience of the research-led part of the sector which will strengthen MMU and help it to deliver its academic vision,¡± he added.

john.morgan@tesglobal.com