Malcolm Grant

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{{{order}}} Provost of University College London
Malcolm Grant

Born	1947 New Zealand
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/provost/

Professor Malcolm Grant, CBE, is the Provost and President of University College London, a role equivalent to Vice-Chancellor at other United Kingdom universities. He took up the post – the principal academic and administrative officer and head of UCL – on 1 August 2003.^[1] Professor Grant has been controversially responsible for UCL's attempt to redefine its image as one of the world's leading universities. He has encountered difficulty with academics especially on aspects within the university such as pay reform.^[2]^[3] He is also responsible for initating UCL's £300 million fundraising scheme.^[4]

1 As Provost of UCL
2 Previous work and education
3 Awards and other positions
4 Early life and family
5 References
6 External links

In 2005, after pressure from The Cheese Grater, he agreed to shave off his moustache if UCL students raised £1500 for Comic Relief, on Red Nose Day. Unfortunately for his moustache — of 33 years — students and staff duly donated over £2,000.^[5] However, the tache has since regrown. In 2006 he was against the Israel university boycotts. ^[6] In 2007, Professor Grant said the achievement and academic gap between male and female students was widening. ^[7] Since 1998, 313,259 more women than men have made university applications. Malcolm Grant said, 'the trend indicated a big fall in the number of university-educated men'. In January 2007 he argued that the university approach to funding needed a different approach. ^[8]

Professor Malcolm Grant, Provost and president of UCL, minus his moustache after shaving it off on 11 March 2005

Before becoming Provost, Professor Grant was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (2002–2003). Before 2002 he served as Head of the Department of Land Economy from 1993 until 2001. Before coming to UCL Grant was a professor of Land Economy and a Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge where he helped lead attempts at a university 'shake-up'.^[9] The Professor was also a visiting Professor of Law and Vice-Dean (1986–1991) of University College London Law Faculty. He was a Lecturer in Law at Southampton University (1982–1986), and a Visiting Professor at the School of Law and Centre for Growth Management, University of Florida (1991) and Senior Research Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Boston (1991). He was elected an Academician of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences (2000).

Grant is an Honorary Member, Royal Town Planning Institute (1993–) and Member of Council (1998–2001); Honorary Member, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (1995–), Member of Governing Council (1997–2001) and Member of International Governing Council (2001–); Barrister, Middle Temple (1998–); and Honorary Life Member, New Zealand Resource Management Law Association (1999). He was elected a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2004.^[10]

Professor Grant was awarded the CBE in 2003 for services to planning law and local government. He was appointed Officier dans l'Ordre de Mérite by the French Government in 2004. He was Chair of the Agriculture & Environment Biotechnology Commission (2000–2005). He was also Chair of the UK Independent Steering Board for the Public Debate on GM (2002–2003).

Since 2006 he has been chair of the Russell Group of UK research universities.^[11] He is also Chair of the Standards Committee of the Greater London Authority, and has been Chair of the Association of London Government’s Independent Panel on the Remuneration of Councillors in London (1998–2005). He served two terms of appointment as Chair of the Local Government Commission for England (1996–2001), having been originally appointed a member of the commission from 1992.^[12]

Born in New Zealand in 1947, Professor Grant was awarded the LLB (1970), LLM (1973) and LLD (1986) by the Otago University, New Zealand.