Meet our new University Principal
Professor Andy Schofield has become the 51st University of Glasgow Principal and Vice-Chancellor, beginning his term on 1 October 2025 after the retirement of Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli. Andy says it is the ‘pinnacle of his career’ to be Principal here at Glasgow.
Born in Surrey, Andy won a scholarship to an independent school in Croydon and from there went to Cambridge, taking a year out to travel and teach in India. After graduating in physics, he stayed on at Cambridge to study for a PhD in the quantum properties of matter, followed by a postdoc at Rutgers University in the USA.
Andy began his working life as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham in 1999, moving through the ranks to become Pro-Vice-Chancellor there. After 21 years in Birmingham, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University in 2020. Andy spoke to Avenue at the very start of his tenure about the experiences and life course that have brought him here.
"I’m hugely excited to be here in Glasgow. I'm attracted both by the history, but also the comprehensive nature of what the University does. If you want to be part of a place where literally every discipline is present and you can meet an expert in each discipline, you'd have to look a long way before you found somewhere as good as Glasgow.
One of the real challenges for me, particularly in the first months, is just understanding how the University thinks. I know there will be many different points of view, especially among 10,000 staff and 40,000 students. At the heart of any university is its people. I like people and I'm interested in how they operate – I want to see them flourish in their roles and studies.
"Everybody I've talked to so far has come with an enthusiasm for the University which is infectious. That same enthusiasm resonating into the student body too, means we've really got something special to build on.
Here we are in Scotland, the heart of the Enlightenment, and the seeking out of knowledge and truth is what a university must be a bastion of. Debating it, tearing it apart, and challenging ideas to get to that true kernel of where truth lies, that's the sort of skills that you want in a university. Maintaining academic excellence is about recruiting the best people we can, people who will contribute to the mission of the University, and allowing those people to thrive, do challenging research and make a real mark in their respective fields.
No one institution can do everything. I think there’s a humility in recognising that expertise exists beyond our walls and that partnership is really important. I appreciate the African proverb that “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together”. I think of this as the spirit of a University. By working with experts right around the globe we enhance our own reputation, but we also bring Glasgow to the rest of the world. And I look forward to telling the world what the University of Glasgow is great at. When others play your stories back to you that, for me, is a definition of success.
There’s only a very small number of institutions that can boast of being almost 575 years old – and it has an alumni and student base that is clearly passionate about this place. It’s really important to me that our students have a great experience and are proud of being eventual alumni of the University, and that the University remains where it needs to be, right up at the top.”
This article was first published in October 2025.
On a lighter note...
“When I’m not working, I like being outside. I run and I swim – not with any great skill – but I do enjoy physical exercise. I think I'd go mad if all of what I was doing was just on a computer. I like a bit of escape. That’s why Scotland is hugely attractive, having that landscape around you.
If you ask my family, “what’s Dad’s favourite film?” they'd probably come up with 'A Room with a View', the Merchant Ivory film. That's one I come back to again and again. It’s a bit of pure escapism – a very faithful rendering of the novel, and a nice story, with humour in it.”