Rowan Williams to Head UK's New Major University

TREFOREST, Wales, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The University of South Wales has announced that the scholar and academic Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Williams of Oystermouth is become its next Chancellor.  Lord Williams, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012 and is now Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, will succeed Rt Hon Lord Morris of Aberavon KG QC, who is retiring in late 2013. 

Rowan Williams said: "It gives me both personal pleasure and a sense of quiet pride to become the formal head of the University of South Wales. This is a vigorous academic community of many nations and beliefs brought together by a shared commitment to the transformation of lives through knowledge and education. The University of South Wales is both a substantial presence in Britain and in the global higher education community, and a major force for positive change in Wales."

Announcing his successor, Lord Morris of Aberavon said: "This is an exciting year for our newly named University of South Wales.  It is a particularly opportune time for me, after 12 years, to hand over the Chancellorship to a most distinguished person who is a son of Glamorgan and has served Gwent as its Bishop.

"Our predecessors sought to widen the opportunity for education. This university must continue to do that. The challenge now is to provide the kind of education required for the changing needs of today's society and a University qualification that will enable our graduands to adapt to the challenges that will face them. I extend to Lord Williams of Oystermouth my very best wishes."

Notes to editors

         As Chancellor of the University, Lord Williams is the formal head of the University of South Wales and presides at ceremonial occasions such as degree ceremonies.

         Lord Williams, who became an honorary fellow of the University in 2000 when serving as Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth, will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of South Wales at this year's July graduation ceremonies.

         The University of South Wales is a major regional university formed in April 2013 from the coming together of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport.  One of the top ten campus universities in the UK by student number, it is based in campuses in Cardiff, Newport, and the South Wales Valleys.

         Previous Chancellors of the University (appointed as the University of Glamorgan) are former Home Secretary Lord Merlyn-Rees (Chancellor 1994-2002) and former Attorney General of the United Kingdom Lord Morris of Aberavon (2002-)

         More information at http://www.southwales.ac.uk

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