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A Chancellor is the head of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as President or Rector.

In most Commonwealth (or former Commonwealth) nations, the Chancellor is usually a titular (figurehead) non-resident head, often with a Pro-Chancellor as practical Chairman of the governing body ("The Council"); the actual chief executive of a university is the Vice-Chancellor.

Contents 1 Canada, Hong Kong and Scotland 2 Republic of Ireland 3 Australia 4 United States 5 India 6 The Philippines 7 Pakistan 8 Malaysia 9 See also

See also: Ancient university governance in Scotland

Canadian and Scottish universities have a figurehead Chancellor, but the day-to-day operations are typically handled by a "Principal" who also carries the title of Vice-Chancellor. In Canada, the Principal may also be called "President" or "Rector". See: the category for Canadian chancellors of universities and colleges.

In Hong Kong, universities also have a figurehead Chancellor. Day-to-day operation is in the hands of either a Vice-Chancellor or a President, depending on the institution.

In the Republic of Ireland the four universities all have a Chancellor as their figurehead leader. However day-to-day operations of the universities are under the directorship of a President (a Provost in the case of Trinity College Dublin). The National University of Ireland's constituent universities do not have a chancellor each, rather, the president of each constituent university has the title of Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the NUI. In Dublin City University and the University of Limerick, the chancellor is also the chairman of the university's Governing Authority.

In Australia, the Chancellor is Chairman of the University's governing body; thus, as well as having ceremonial duties, the Chancellor participates in the governance of the University (but not its active management). The Chancellor is assisted by a Deputy Chancellor (known as the Pro-Chancellor in some universities). The Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor are frequently drawn from the senior ranks of business or the judiciary (it is one of the few jobs considered compatible with judicial service). Some universities have a Visitor, who is senior to the Chancellor, and is generally the state Governor (or, for Catholic universities, a Bishop). Once upon a time, university disputes could be appealed from the governing board to the Visitor (as is still the case in the UK), but nowadays such appeal is generally prohibited by legislation, and the position has only ceremonial functions. (In fact, little function at all, since the Visitor will rarely attend University functions, unlike the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor, who frequently preside at functions such as graduations.)

Macquarie University in Sydney, in particular, is noteworthy in having the unique position of Emeritus Deputy Chancellor, a post created for John Lincoln on his retirement from his long-held post of Deputy Chancellor in 2000. The new position is not merely an honorary title, as it also retains a place in the University Council for Lincoln.

In the United States, universities usually call their heads "presidents," but the name chancellor is sometimes seen, most commonly in a system of connected state universities. A few private institutions namely Saint Anselm College (which has a President and Chancellor), Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Syracuse University, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis use the title chancellor. After his retirement as founding president of Brandeis University, Abram L. Sachar held the position of Chancellor of Brandeis University, until he retired to the position of Chancellor Emeritus which he held until his passing in 1993; the post has not been filled again. A given state's university system may be headed by a "chancellor" who serves as the system-wide chief, while individual campuses are headed by presidents; a typical example is the California State University system.

Exceptions in which the two titles are reversed include:

• the University of Alaska system
• the University of Arkansas System
• the University of California (UC) system
• the University of Colorado System
• the University of Illinois system
• the Louisiana State University System
• the University of Massachusetts system
• the University of Missouri System
• the University of Nebraska system
• the University of North Carolina system
• the University of Wisconsin System
• the Purdue University System,

So in California, for example, the California State University (CSU) chancellor supervises the presidents of CSU's 23 campuses, while the UC president supervises the chancellors of UC's 10 campuses.

In the Indiana University System, the president holds executive authority for the system and there are chancellors at each campus, as in the above exceptions, but there is the additional post of "University Chancellor", which was created for popular past president Herman B Wells upon his retirement, largely as a sinecure position, and held by him until his death in 2000.

The College of William and Mary uses chancellor in the British way for a figurehead leader but the day-to-day head is an American-style "president," not a "vice-chancellor." The incumbent Chancellor is Sandra Day O'Connor, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Previous holders of the office of Chancellor include George Washington, John Tyler, Warren Burger, Margaret Thatcher, and Henry Kissinger. Before independence several Bishops of London and Archbishops of Canterbury served as Chancellor.

The Catholic University of America is headed by a President and the Archbishop of Washington serves as Chancellor. The current archbishop and chancellor, Donald Wuerl, represents the university before the Holy See.

The University of Mississippi uses the chancellor system, with the chancellor serving as the chief executive officer of the system, while the medical school is headed by a vice chancellor and the four other campuses are headed by various deans that report directly to the vice-chancellor of academic affairs.

Outside universities, the title is sometimes used to designate other education officials, such as the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.

In India, almost all universities have a chancellor (Hindi: kulādhipati) as their titular head whose function is largely ceremonial. The de-facto head of the university is the Vice-Chancellor (Hindi: kulapati). His equivalent for engineering institutes is the Director (Hindi: nirdéshak), even for those engineering institutes that are university equivalents, like the Indian Institutes of Technology.

In the Philippines, the premier state university (University of the Philippines) designates the head of its autonomous universities as the Chancellor. The autonomous universities make up the system, whose head is designated as the President. The Chancellor designates the different Vice-Chancellors for different areas of concern of the University: academic affairs, finance, and community affairs, among others.

In Pakistan chancellor is normally the figure head of the university, who is normally the provincial governor where that university exists. Day to day business of the university is run by the vice chancellor.

In Malaysia, the chancellor position is given to dignitaries such as royalty or prominent politicians by universities to represent the universities in the political arena. Recently, UCSI in Kuala Lumpur has given recognition to Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad as its first chancellor.

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