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John Duffy, new Registrar and Secretary

John Duffy has been appointed as the new Registrar & Secretary and will take up the post on 1 November 2009. 

Mr Duffy has been Secretary and Director of Administration at St George's, University of London (SGUL) since September 2004. Prior to that he was Head of Administration of the joint Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences between SGUL and Kingston University. 

He has held management posts in a number of higher education institutions including the universities of Edinburgh, Newcastle and Sheffield and the Institute of Cancer Research. 

Mr Duffy gained an MBA from City University London in 1991. He has an MA in American History from the University of Glasgow and was an exchange student at Georgetown University, Washington DC. 

He replaces Dr Philip Harvey, who is leaving Sussex on 18 September to become Registrar and Secretary at the University of Sheffield. 

The Registrar & Secretary is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for Professional Services - comprising all of the University's support services other than Finance, the Library and IT Services. 

The Professional Services employ some 650 people (550 full-time equivalent) and had a total turnover of £22m for 2008-09. 

The directors of the Professional Services (Communications and Marketing; Development and Alumni Relations; Estates and Facilities Management; Health and Safety; Human Resources; Research and Enterprise; Residential, Sport and Trading Services; Strategy, Planning and Governance; Student and Academic Services) report directly to the Registrar & Secretary. 

The Registrar & Secretary is Secretary to the University's Court, Council and Senate. He attends or is a member of all key policy-making committees such as Strategy and Resources Committee and is a member of the Vice-Chancellor's Executive Group (VCEG). 

Announcing the appointment, Professor Michael Farthing, Vice-Chancellor, said: "The Professional Services support our academic mission and are a vital part of ensuring the effective development and delivery of our vision for Sussex. 

"I am delighted that, from a strong field of candidates, we have been able to make this excellent appointment to the executive team." 

The post was advertised in the Times Higher Education magazine in June and search consultants Perrett Laver worked with the University on the recruitment process. 

Campus visits by candidates took place in mid-July and final interviews on 27 July.  The selection panel included senior management and academic and independent members of Council (the University's governing body). 

Mr Duffy  said: "I am proud to have been given the opportunity to join Sussex as Registrar and I am very much looking forward to supporting the Vice-Chancellor in addressing the challenges that lie ahead." 

In the short interim period before Mr Duffy takes up his post in November, a small number of existing Professional Services directors will be brought on to the Vice-Chancellor's Executive Group (VCEG) and will formally co-ordinate the work of their colleagues in the Professional Services Group (PSG). 

This will be the Director of Human Resources, Jane Summerville (already a member of VCEG); the Academic Registrar, Owen Richards; and the Director of Research and Enterprise, Dr Ian Carter.