Mark Smith

Higher Education Lead

President and Vice-Chancellor - University of Southampton

Professor Mark E. Smith is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton. As President and Vice-Chancellor he is the Chief Executive of the University and has overall responsibility for its operations. He took up this role on 1 October 2019. Professor Smith was Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University from 2012 until September 2019. He was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick.

Throughout his academic career, he has published more than 380 papers about advanced magnetic resonance techniques, helping to understand a range of problems in the field of materials physics.

In addition to his role as President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Southampton, he holds a number of external appointments including membership of Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Board; is a Trustee of Jisc; Senior Independent Member of UKRI EPSRC’s Council; and board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, chairing their Research Wales Committee. He also chairs the Financial Sustainability Strategy Group for Higher Education and the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). He is a member of the President’s Advisory Coumcil of the Society of Chemical Industry.

He was awarded a CBE for Services to Research and Higher Education in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.