New Principal confirmed

[cam]

Do we know who else went for the position?

[exnihilo]

Quoting cam from 11:07, 9th Jun 2008
Well Brian didn't really have much effect on the Social Anthropology department.

No, but then, he hadn't spent a lot of time teaching in his field lately. Granted Struther's field wasn't English, but he certainly shaped the department as his plaything.

[Archimedes]

Quoting exnihilo from 10:01, 9th Jun 2008
I'd have thought someone with a strong background in IR would be the last thing IR would want as a department, no department wants the Principal treating them as their pet project. Ask English about its relationship with Struther Arnott.

But Struther Arnott was a biologist, wasn't he?

And did Social Anthropology have a bad relationship with Brian Lang? (Well, OK, every department had a bad relationship with him, but was theirs worse than usual?)

[McK]

Quoting Archimedes from 10:30, 9th Jun 2008

Quoting exnihilo from 10:01, 9th Jun 2008
I'd have thought someone with a strong background in IR would be the last thing IR would want as a department, no department wants the Principal treating them as their pet project. Ask English about its relationship with Struther Arnott.

But Struther Arnott was a biologist, wasn't he?

And did Social Anthropology have a bad relationship with Brian Lang? (Well, OK, every department had a bad relationship with him, but was theirs worse than usual?)

Social Anthropology was such a hotbed of in-fighting that its relationship with the Principal, which was not great, was secondary really.

And yes, Arnott was a scientist. English may have been his pet project, but they were at least lucky to have had his attention - he allowed Linguistics and Geology to suffer to the point of (almost) extinction for years.

[Eddie Baby]

So, is she fit?

[David Bean]

Goodness, this is exciting. So, is there some kind of installation ceremony? I might have to pay another visit!

Is Dr Lang retiring, or moving on to something else, do we know?

[hr]

Psalm 91:7

[Archimedes]

Quoting McK from 17:31, 10th Jun 2008

Social Anthropology was such a hotbed of in-fighting that its relationship with the Principal, which was not great, was secondary really.

Notice how we're already talking about Lang in the past tense? We're getting ahead of ourselves looking forward to his departure!

[Archimedes]

Quoting David Bean from 21:51, 10th Jun 2008

Is Dr Lang retiring, or moving on to something else, do we know?

Oh, he'll probably keep doing the other jobs he has. He's on the boards of the heritage lottery fund, Scottish enterprise, and I think he has a couple of company directorships as well. After all, just because he's getting £220K for being principal, that's is no reason to expect him to work here full time...